A club from Montenegro has been excluded by the UEFA disciplinary chamber for ten years by European competitions – it is about play manipulation in the Conference League.
The UEFA disciplinary chamber imposed the punishment against FK Arsenal Tivot from Montenegro. The accusation: In both games of the 1st qualification round of the Conference League 2023/24 against FC Alaschkert Martuni from Armenia, game manipulation is said to have occurred. There were no sanctions against Martuni.
The first leg in Montenegro ended 1-1, the second leg in Armenia 6: 1 for Maruini. As early as 2023, there were media reports that the games were suspected.
Arsenal Tivat announces procedure against the punishment
By 2035, FK Arsenal Tivat will no longer play a European Cup game if the sentence has existed. In principle, decisions can be made from the UEFA disciplinary chamber in front of the Cammer of Appeal and in a further step in front of the International Sports Court CAS.
And that is exactly what the club announced. “We are confident that the second instance of the UEFA or as a final fund will alleviate the court in Lausanne this punishment,” said club president Dejan Kandic at Radio Tivat.
The reason: his club itself filed a complaint immediately after the second leg. If the club had been involved in “dishonest actions”, it would have been banished to the lowest league in Montenegro. The fact that this did not happen and that there is no procedure against him or the board of directors speak for the club’s innocence.
Two officials of a club not involved in the game punished
The UEFA does not comment on this or in detail about the case; a reason for the judgment has not yet been published. The disciplinary chamber only announced the punishments that also affect individuals: Arsenal sports director Ranko Krgovic was blocked as well as the player Nikola Celebic. Three other players should remain closed for ten years.
The message from the UEFA also shows that two officials of the Serbian third division club FK Radnički Obrenovac were blocked. The club was not involved in the game, which there is a connection with the investigation, the UEFA did not explain. The club’s official website was unavailable on Friday, and it will be redirected to an Australian provider of sports betting.
In principle, UEFA is only allowed to punish clubs in its competitions, but in the case of game manipulation, it can also blame players or clubs in the lower leagues. In addition, she applied to FIFA that the punishment is carried out worldwide and not only in Europe.
Game manipulation Again and again a problem in football
Game manipulation is always an issue in football and can affect referees, players, clubs or associations. In Germany there was the large referee scandal in 2004, in which Robert Hoyzer games were postponed for payment and winning bets.
In Italy, Juventus Turin was downgraded to series B in 2006 due to the club organized game manipulation. In 2011, UEFA punished several Turkish clubs after a scandal in the two upper Turkish leagues. The KS Skënderbeu from Albania got the same punishment as Arsenal Tivat in 2018 – the UEFA also enforced the punishment in the other instances up to the CAS.