Dinaburg FC expelled from Latvian premier league for match fixing

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The international spotlight on football corruption shifted to Latvia this week, where the regional football association expelled premier league side Dinaburg from top flight competition and banned its club president and trainer for life for betting on games and fixing results, reports the Reuters news agency.

The association said in a statement that the decision, the first of its kind in the Latvian premier league, was made after evidence of match-fixing and betting against the team based in the eastern town of Daugavpils was adduced.

"The idea was that they either lost the game or arranged a particular result," association spokesman Martins Hartmanis said, explaining how the scam had worked.

Dinaburg club president Oleg Gavrilov and trainer Tamaz Pertia were banned for life, while Dinaburg was expelled from this season's premier league.

Dinaburg had previously been disqualified in 2007 from the Baltic League pan-Baltic soccer tournament on similar charges.

Hartmanis said UEFA fully supported the Latvian league's decision.

Source: InfoPowa News