Referee Andranik Arsenyan and assistant Hovhannes Avagyan, who officiated at a UEFA Europa League match last month between FC Inter Turku and Víkingur, have been suspended for life by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body (CDB) for their attempt to manipulate the outcome of this game.

Following the provisional decision rendered by the chairman of the CDB on 7 August 2013, the plenary meeting of the CDB analysed the case today.

The CDB took note of the decision of the Executive Committee of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) with regard to the referee and assistant referee who officiated at the first qualifying round match between Inter Turku and Víkingur on 11 July 2013.

In a hearing at the FFA, referee Arsenyan and assistant referee Avagyan admitted having tried to manipulate the outcome of the second-leg fixture, which ended 1-0 in favour of Víkingur.

The UEFA betting fraud detection system (BFDS) – which monitors over 32,000 matches across Europe, including all first and second-division games, cup ties and UEFA competition fixtures – had detected suspicious betting patterns around this encounter, and this prompted the start of an investigation by UEFA, to which the FFA contributed closely.

UEFA is pleased with the excellent cooperation of the FFA, the local authorities and the betting operators during the investigation process.