New Delhi: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Friday handed life bans to three Indonesian shuttlers for involvement in match-fixing, match manipulation and betting.
The sport's governing body said, "Eight Indonesian players who knew each other, and competed in lower-level international competitions mostly in Asia up until 2019, breached BWF Integrity Regulations related to match-fixing, match manipulation and/or betting on badminton."
"Three of them were found to have coordinated and organised others into being complicit in the behaviour and have been suspended from all badminton related activities for life," BWF said in a statement.
"Five others were suspended for between six to 12 years and fined between USD 3,000 and USD 12,000 each."
The BWF said it was a report by a whistleblower which allowed its integrity unit to start a probe and interview a number of players about the matter, following which all eight players were provisionally suspended in January last year.
The apex body said the players can appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days.
The BWF also suspended a Malaysian citizen, who is a representative of an equipment brand that sponsors international badminton players, from all badminton-related activities for life after he was found guilty of offering money to international players to manipulate matches.
"Due to the nature of the breaches and this person's access to and influence over players his company sponsored, the IHP suspended the individual from badminton-related activities for life."
Also Read: Indian team to start training, get access to physio after all 824 participants clear COVID-19 test
