Match fixing: Three Laos football players banned for life by the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee

Following a match between the national teams of Hong Kong and Laos that was played 5th October 2017, a match that Laos lost 4-0, three Laos players have been found guilty of conspiring to manipulate the match result.

In February 2020, the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) banned Laos footballers Khampheng Sayavutthi and Lembo Saysana from taking part in any football related activities for life, after concluding that they had breached the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code’s provisions regarding match manipulation.

In July, AFC confirmed that a third player, goalkeeper Thipphonexay Inthavongsa, was also found guilty of breaching the match manipulation regulations in the same match, and that the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee had banned him from football for life.

Laos football has a history of match-fixing cases. In February 2017, the AFC banned 22 players and officials from Laos and Cambodia, after they were found to have been involved in the manipulations of matched involving the representative team of Laos and Laos club Lao Toyota FC.

AFC stated that FIFA will be requested to extend the bans world-wide.

Any decision from the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee can be appealed to The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days after the parties have received the decision, in accordance with the AFC statutes art. 62 and 66.