Israeli Court Jails Match Fixers For Three Years

An Israeli court sentenced a former referee and an ex-player and coach to three years in jail.

An Israeli court sentenced a former referee and an ex-player and coach to three years in jail on Sunday after they were found guilty of match fixing.

Tel Aviv magistrates' court jailed former referee Bariq Tahsin after he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime and of receiving bribes to fix the results of three matches in which he officiated in 1999 and 2000.

Eli Cohen, a former coach and player for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the early 1980s, who was convicted of bribing officials to help fix results in 11 matches, will also serve three years.

A third man, Avi Hudeda, found guilty of bribery and conspiracy to commit a crime, received a 27-month jail sentence. A fourth person, former referee Haim Mirovsky, was sentenced to six months' community service for his involvement in the affair.

Charges were originally brought in 2003 after a wide-ranging police investigation into the scandal was launched in 2002. Three men convicted last year are already serving jail sentences for their involvement.

Two men were acquitted in the case while another suspect escaped abroad.