UEFA gives Malta player life ban for match-fixing

Kevin Sammut made more than 30 appearances for Malta's national team.

Bela Szandelszky/AP

GENEVA (AP) -- Malta's Kevin Sammut has been banned from soccer for life after UEFA found him guilty of helping fix a European Championship qualifying match in a betting scam.

His lawyer, Michael Sciriha, tells The Associated Press that UEFA's appeals panel increased Sammut's 10-year ban to a lifetime expulsion Friday.

Sammut denies colluding with a Croatian-led match-fixing syndicate in June 2007 to manipulate Malta's 4-0 loss in Norway in a Euro 2008 qualifier.

Sciriha says Sammut must receive UEFA's detailed legal reasons before deciding whether to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 31-year-old Sammut challenged a 10-year ban imposed by UEFA's disciplinary panel in August. The governing body also appealed to request a lifetime sanction.

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