BELGRADE: A referee in Serbia has been handed a prison sentence for whistling up a non-existent penalty.

Srdjan Obradovic has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and 10 years of disqualification for abusing the position, when he favored Spartak Subotica in their match against Radnicki Nis during a top division match in May 2018.

The judgment, which is subject o appeal, was delivered by the Anti-Corruption Chamber of the High Court of Novi Sad (north).

Victory in the match on the penultimate day of the Serbian league on May 13, 2018, in Subotica, between Spartak and Radnicki , would end with ne of the two teams third in the league and thus qualified for the forthcoming Europa League.

Spartak won 2-0 with two penalties , one of them then rated by the sports press as “scandalous”, and playing with a man extra after one of their opponents was sent off.

Police questioned the referee after the game because his performance raised suspicions of a possible fix and his testimony was used to report it to the prosecution.

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