Asian champs Jeonbuk banned from 2017 season

Asian title-holders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have been banned from this year’s AFC Champions League over a match-fixing scandal in South Korea’s K-League, Asia’s football governing body said on Wednesday. “The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) independent Entry Control Body on Wednesday declared that Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) is ineligible to participate in AFC competitions for the 2017 season due to its indirect involvement in activities aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of matches during the 2013 and 2014 K-League seasons,” the confederation said in a statement. 

“The Body subsequently ordered that Jeju United FC shall be the third seed and Ulsan Hyundai the fourth seed representing the Korea Football Association in the AFC Champions League 2017,” it added. The ban decision was based on a new document by the Entry Control Body setting out rules for eligibility. Any clubs involved in “arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level” will be barred from the Asian competition for one season, according to the document.