2 Malaysian badminton players banned for match-fixing

FILE – In this Feb. 19, 2016, file photo, Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkiffli plays against India’s Srikanth K. during their men’s singles match of the Badminton Asia Team Championships quarterfinals in Hyderabad, India. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) imposed career-ending bans Wednesday, May 2, 2018 on former world junior singles champion Zulkiffli and fellow Malaysian Tan Chun Seang following a match-fixing investigation. Zulkiffli was banned for 20 years and fined $25,000 after being found guilty of 31 violations dating back to 2013 of the BWF’s code of conduct involving betting, wagering and match manipulation, including four proven counts of match manipulation at three tournaments. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Badminton World Federation has imposed career-ending bans on former world junior singles champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli and fellow Malaysian Tan Chun Seang following a match-fixing investigation.

Zulkiffli was banned for 20 years and fined $25,000 after being found guilty of 31 violations dating back to 2013 of the BWF’s code of conduct involving betting, wagering and match manipulation, including four proven counts of match manipulation at three tournaments.

Tan was banned for 15 years and fined $15,000 after being found guilty of 26 violations of the code of conduct.

The BWF on Wednesday published the verdict of its independent, three-member ethics panel. The bans apply to any involvement in badminton, including playing, officiating or coaching.

The suspensions were backdated to Jan. 12, when the players were provisionally suspended. Both players have the right to appeal.

The panel found that Zulkiffli, the 2011 world junior singles champion, had engaged in corruption offenses at six tournaments between 2013 and 2016. The 31-year-old Tan, who had a world ranking in the 30s at his peak, had been involved in corruption offenses at five tournaments in 2013 and ’14.

The BWF panel said it had no way of determining how much the players had corruptly earned from “direct betting profits or from third parties for their illicit activities.”

The investigation began after a whistleblower reported allegations of a corrupt approach from Zulkiffli at a tournament in Brazil in 2016.