Montenegrin football club FK Arsenal Tivat have been banned from UEFA club competitions for 10 years by the governing body’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEBD) over match-fixing breaches.
The ban, along with a €500,000 fine, relate to offences which were deemed to violate UEFA’s disciplinary regulations.
The violations revolved around a match between Tivat and Armenian outfit Alashkert FC in the UEFA Conference League qualifying rounds in July 2023.
Alashkert won the second leg 6-1 and the two-legged tie 7-2 on aggregate, with the fixture quickly flagged to UEFA.
This led UEFA to conduct investigations into several Tivat players and other individuals over match-fixing concerns, leading to disciplinary proceedings.
According to UEFA, the tie violated the “general principals of conduct” outlined in its disciplinary regulations, while compromising the integrity of matches and competitions.
In addition to the ban and fine handed to the club, defender Nikola Čelebić, 36, has been handed a lifetime ban from any football-related activity.
Celebic currently plays for Iskra Danilovgrad having left Tivat in 2024. He started at centre-half during the 6-1 loss and was subbed off in the 77th minute.
Other Tivat players involved in the game – Cetko Manojlović (34), Radule Živković (34) and Dusan Puletic (36) – have each been given a 10-year ban from football.
Manojlović was Tivat’s captain in the 6-1 defeat and played alongside Čelebić in the centre of the backline, Puletic played in goal and Živković started at right-back.
Former Tivat sporting director Ranko Krgovic, who was in the role at the time, was also handed a lifetime ban.
UEFA also banned Milan Vignjević, formerly an official at Serbian team FK Radnicki Obrenovac, for 10 years.
His colleague Goran Janjusevic was also banned for six years. UEFA did not disclose the pair’s relation to Tivat or the match-fixing case.
A goalkeeper, Christos Psomiadis, was handed an eight-year ban, too.
UEFA has sent a request to FIFA to extend each ban to be effective worldwide.
The post UEFA hands 10-year European ban to Montenegrin side over match-fixing violations first appeared on EGR Intel.
FK Arsenal Tivat also fined €500,000 by European football’s governing body, with a request submitted to FIFA to extend the expulsion worldwide
The post UEFA hands 10-year European ban to Montenegrin side over match-fixing violations first appeared on EGR Intel.