Four players and a coach facing criminal charges related to match-fixing in Australia's second tier Victorian Premier League have been suspended from all soccer activities, the country's governing body said on Friday. The multi-million dollar racket, which had links with betting syndicates in Malaysia and Hungary, was smashed by the Australian police, who acted on information provided by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA).
The FFA has suspended the five Southern Stars individuals under its National Code of Conduct for bringing the game into disrepute. The FFA has also written to world governing body FIFA to extend the bans on the individuals world-wide.