Soccer

El Salvador bans 14 players for life for match fixing

Following the suspension of 22 players in August, El Salvador has opted to ban 14 of the players from the national team for life. Another three have received temporary suspensions, while four are still under investigation and one has been acquitted.

By Kim McCauley@lgbtqfc Sep 20, 2013, 4:06pm EDT

The football association of El Salvador has been looking into allegations of match fixing for the better part of this year and has concluded a major part of their investigation. After handing down 22 suspensions of 30 days back in August, the federation has come back with 14 lifetime bans and three other suspensions. Four more players are still being investigated.

Luis Anaya, Osael Romero, Ramon Sanchez, Christian Castillo, Miguel Grenadian, Miguel Montes, Dagoberto Portillo, Dennis Alas, Darwin Bonilla, Ramon Flores, Alfredo Pacheco, Mordecai Henriquez, Marvin Gonzalez and Reynaldo Hernandez have all been banned for life. Romeo Monteagudo has been banned for 18 months, while Eliseo Quintanilla and Victor Turcios have been suspended for six months. The federation is still investigating Benji Villalobos, Rodrigo Martinez, Rodolfo Zelaya and Emerson Umana. Carlos Carillo is the only one of the original 22 suspended players who has been acquitted.

Among those banned for life, Romero and Portillo are the biggest names. Both are experienced regular starters for the senior national team. Bonilla is one of the country's best young players and has recently cracked the national team setup.

Zelaya is currently the nation's biggest star and is coming off a spectacular performance in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He's been linked to Major League Soccer -- most recently the Colorado Rapids -- and it wouldn't be surprising if his alleged involvement in this match fixing scandal has scared teams off of signing him.

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