REUTERS - A match-fixing scandal in Malaysia that led to 18 players being banned by the country's football association has been blasted as a "disgrace" by the country's sports minister.
A coach was also among those suspended by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), local media reported, while Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek has called for police action.
"I will direct the respective authorities to investigate and find out the source of the match-fixing scandal," he was quoted as saying by Malaysia's Bernama news agency.
The 18 youth players were banned for two to five years, while a coach was booted out of the game for life at the weekend following a probe into a match-fixing ring.
Malaysia was also rocked by a match-fixing scandal in the mid-1990s resulting in more than a 100 players being banned.
Asian soccer's image has taken a battering in recent years with corruption scandals in China and South Korea, the latter linked to the suspected suicide of a player.
Indonesian soccer continues to court a FIFA ban after a leadership election crisis and with its association at war with a breakaway rebel league.
The chaos extended all the way to the top with former Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hamman removed from office amid a bribery scandal during his defunct FIFA presidency bid.
(Reporting by Alastair Himmer in Tokyo; Editing by Patrick Johnston. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
