Montenegrin soccer club banned by UEFA for 10 years for match-fixing; player, official banned for life
The decision concluded that the eight players and officials involved broke Article 11 (general principles of conduct) and Article 12 (integrity of matches and competitions and match-fixing) during the 2023-24 Conference League two-legged qualifying tie between Arsenal Tivat and Armenian side Alashkert FC in July 2023.
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Arsenal Tivat player Nikola Celebic, 36, and sporting director Ranko Krgovic have received lifetime bans 'from exercising any football-related activity', while Cetko Manojlovic, Radule Zivkovic and Dusan Puletic have received ten-year bans. Only Manojlovic still plays for the Montenegrin side.
UEFA has also given bans to two officials from Serbian side FK Radnicki Obrenovac, Milan Vignjevic (ten years) and Goran Janjusevic (six years). Another person involved, Christos Psomiadis, received an eight-year ban.
The disciplinary body has also called for FIFA to extend the ban worldwide, beyond the European football governing body's remit, and has fined the Montenegrin club €500,000.
The Athletic reported in August 2023 that Alashkert's second-leg 6-1 win over Arsenal Tivat was flagged to UEFA due to suspicious betting patterns.
The first leg had finished 1-1 and Alashkert were eliminated in the following round. Neither club responded to a request for comment at the time.
Experts had warned that the European competition carried with it a high risk of match-fixing.
'There is a big mix of countries and less well-known teams,' Chris Rasmussen, Lecturer in Sports Betting Integrity at the University of New Haven, explained at the time. 'It's hard for the bookmaker to set the correct odds.'
Rasmussen said the game had clear suspicious betting patterns. Many other experts and insiders picked this up, causing the matches to be flagged to UEFA and the investigation to begin.
The Athletic has approached Arsenal Tivat for comment.
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