NYON: UEFA has suspended two Armenian officials who attempted to ‘manipulate the outcome’ of a Europea League game in July.

Referee Andranik Arsenyan and assistant Hovhannes Avagyan oversaw the FC Inter Turku and Vikingur game on July 11 and both admitted they had tried to change the game which ended 1-0 to Vikingur.

The UEFA betting fraud detection system – which monitors more than  32,000 matches across Europe – had detected suspicious betting patterns around the fixture, prompting the start of an investigation by UEFA.

A statement from UEFA read: “UEFA is pleased with the excellent cooperation of the HFF (Football Federation of Armenia), the local authorities and the betting operators during the investigation process.

“Today, the chairman of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has decided to suspend with immediate effect, and for any football-related activities, both match officials. At the same time, a disciplinary proceeding has been opened in accordance with Article 12 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (integrity of matches and competitions, and match-fixing).

“The case will be dealt with by the Control and Disciplinary Body on Thursday 22 August at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.”

#################