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Malaysian club Selangor FA, who face East Bengal tomorrow in the AFC Cup, have been hit by the news that their influential Lebanese international Ramez Dayoub has been given a life ban for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
According to various Lebanon media sources, the Lebanon Football Association (LFA) and Western Asian Football Federation (WAFF) had a joint press conference in Beirut on Tuesday and announced the suspension of 24 Lebanese players involved in bribery and match-fixing, following a three-month investigation into the charges.
Dayoub, who nearly joined Kolkata giants East Bengal in 2009, and another national team player Mahmoud al-Ali, were each fined $15,000 and banned for life. Two more Lebanese internationals, Hadi Sehmerani and Mohammed Jaafar, received a three-year ban and were fined $7,000 each.
The remaining 20 players, including striker Akram Moghrabi, who played the first half of the 2012-13 season for India’s Churchill Brothers, have been given a one-year suspension and fine of $3,000 each.
Lebanese media house Al Jadeed TV wrote about the announcement on their official Twitter account, and this comes just a few days after the recent Interpol Conference on match-fixing in Kuala Lumpur.
“The most important thing is that we have amputated the masterminds behind this … conspiracy against the Lebanese [national] team,” LFA secretary general Jihad al-Chohof was quoted saying.
STILL AVAILABLE FOR EB TIE
According to sources close to Sporstkeeda, Dayoub is still eligible for Wednesday’s match against East Bengal. Until late Tuesday evening, the Selangor FA team management were not informed about the announcement by the Malaysia FA, but it remains to be seen if that changes on Wednesday morning.
