A penalty of this scale has not been seen before in European football, marking a new point in the game’s history. According to a report by Sports Bible published on the 16th (Korean time), UEFA excluded a team involved in the 2023-2024 UEFA Europa Conference League from every UEFA-organized event for a period of 10 years and gave out a 500,000 euro fine (equal to about 807.45 million won).

The organization made this decision after finishing their investigation into match-fixing and UEFA rule-breaking during the July 2023 match between Alashkert FC from Armenia and FK Arsenal Tivat from Montenegro. Sports Bible clarified Montenegro’s FK Arsenal Tivat will not join any UEFA club competitions again until the 2034-2035 season is finished. UEFA released a statement on their website on the 16th to address the decision.

UEFA Issues Lifetime and Decade-Long Bans to FK Arsenal Tivat Officials over Ethics Violations

“The CEDB, also called the UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Commissioner, started both an inquiry and corresponding sanctions against FK Arsenal Tivat and involved persons, regarding the report of breaking UEFA disciplinary codes in the July 2023 Alashkert FC and FK Arsenal Tivat fixture during the 2023-2024 UEFA Europa Conference League, resulting in the following outcomes,” UEFA stated.

The investigation focused on breaking general behavior rules (UEFA Article 11), affecting the truthfulness of matches, and match-fixing (Article 12). In response, UEFA issued FK Arsenal Tivat a fine of 500,000 euros and a club contest ban for 10 years, ending after the 2034-2035 cycle. FIFA received word and was told to extend this ban globally.

Lifetime Football Ban for Player; Officials Receive Harsh Sanctions

The report explained strict punishment came down on FK Arsenal Tivat players and officials, too. One of the team’s players, Nikola Čelebić, cannot participate in any football activity for life. Cvetko Manojlović lost all rights to football activity for 10 years. Both Radule Glibković and Dušan Poretić were also handed 10-year bans.

Ranko Krgovich, holding the sporting director’s position, has been forbidden to take part in football forever. This action marks the longest ban since 2009, when FK Pobeda from North Macedonia received an 8-year suspension, as highlighted by Sports Bible.