Athlone Town have been charged by the FAI with bringing the game into disrepute over the club’s reaction to the guilty verdicts against two of its players, Igors Labuts and Dragos Sfrijan, in relation to allegations of match fixing.
When the outcome of the disciplinary hearing into the cases was made public on September 7th, Athlone issued a scathing response in which it suggested that process had been “flawed,” the outcome “predetermined” and the sanction imposed “nonsensical”.
The charges are the latest twist in a saga that appears still to have quite some way to run. The appeals by Labuts and Sfrijan against the 12-month bans imposed are due to be heard over the next couple of weeks.
Jason Lyons, meanwhile, also has the option of appealing a seven-match ban, with a further five suspended, for betting on Airtricty League games.
In a number of instances, the 22 year-old, who placed what were small wagers on accumulators, bets involving multiple matches, was found to have bet on games in which he was involved, including one in which he captained the team. There was, however, no suggestion that he tried to improperly influence the outcome of the games.
