UEFA’s disciplinary body gave the Montenegrin soccer team FK Arsenal Tivat a 10-year ban for match-fixing.
In addition to the club losing its eligibility for sanctioned competitions, one of the club’s players and its sports director were given lifetime bans from the sport.
Key takeaways
- Suspicious betting activity was flagged in relation to a 2023-24 Conference League match
- The Conference League blends teams of different profiles and countries that don’t usually cross paths
- Officials, players, and referees were banned in the fallout
According to UEFA, eight players and officials broke Article 11 (general principles of conduct) and Article 12 (integrity of matches) during the 2023-24 Conference League.
The match in question was a two-legged tie against Armenian side Alshkert. Arsenal Tivat drew 1-1 on the road before losing 6-1 at home.
The punishment will cost the club, which will be eligible to return to competition during the 2034-35 season, €500,000 ($583,444).
Additionally, Montenegrin defender Nikola Celebic, 36, and sporting director Ranko Krgovic, also 36, received lifetime bans “from exercising any football-related activity.”
Of those, only Manojlovic still played for the club. Zivkovic signed for another Montenegrin team, FK Mladost Donja Gorica, last season, while Puletic retired.
What went wrong?
Suspicious betting activity was first flagged for the second-leg match between Alashkert and Arsenal Tivat in August of 2023. The competition, which featured clubs from less prominent soccer nations, was feared to be a potential source of illegal match-fixing.
“There is a big mix of countries and less well-known teams,” said Chris Rasmussen, a Lecturer in Sports Betting Integrity at the University of New Haven. “It’s hard for the bookmaker to set the correct odds.”
There were traditionally two primary sources of club-level European soccer competition: the Champions League, which featured the cream of the crop, and the Europa League, which was a small step down.
The Conference League was created in 2021 as a third and lesser version of the competition. Teams still needed to place well in their domestic leagues to qualify, though the requirements were not as strict as they were for the Champions League or the Europa League.
The creation of the league created a greater imbalance between teams. Clubs from deep leagues such as the Premier League often ran into teams from smaller countries with less talented teams, creating lopsided matches.
The last example of that could be seen in this year’s Conference League tournament, which was won by Chelsea. While the Blues just beat PSG in the Club World Cup Final and are fourth in odds to win the Premier League, they ran into teams from Armenia, Poland, and Greece during their Conference League campaign.
Additional suspensions
On top of the club-level suspensions, UEFA banned two officials from the Serbian team FK Radnicki Obrenovac — Milan Vignjevic (10 years) and Goran Janjusevic (six years).
Arsenal Tivat won a relegation play-off against FK Lovcen Cetinje in the final game of last season to remain in the top flight of Montenegrin soccer. Lovcen Cetinje will play this season in the second tier.
