Former Athlone players lose appeal over match-fixing

An appeal by two former Athlone Town players who were found guilty of match-fixing allegations has been rejected.

The FAI today announced that an Independent Disciplinary Appeal Committee has rejected the appeal of two former Athlone Town AFC players found guilty of breaching FAI rules.

Both Igors Labuts and Dragos Sfrijan had been found to be in breach of three FAI rules.

- Rule 99: Bringing the Game into Disrepute 
- Rule 105: Manipulating Matches
- Rule 106: Betting / Gambling

The two players were subsequently banned from all football-related activities for 12 months.

On Thursday, October 4, the Independent Disciplinary Appeal Committee met to hear the appeal from the two players. As Mr Sfrijan did not attend the hearing his appeal was dismissed. Mr Labuts' appeal was rejected.

Dragos Sfrijan in action for Athlone Town.

The breach concerns Athlone Town's game against Longford Town in the SSE Airtricity League First Division on April 29, 2017.

The FAI said it had a zero tolerance policy to match-fixing.