Former Austria striker gets five years in prison for match-fixing

Published Oct. 3, 2014 8:51 a.m. ET

foxsports

A criminal court has sentenced former Austria international Sanel Kuljic to five years in prison for match-fixing.

Another former professional player, Dominique Taboga, has been given a 3-year prison term for his role in the betting scam, which included manipulation of 18 domestic league games in Austria's first and second divisions between 2004 and last October.

Eight of the 10 defendants were handed prison sentences while two others were released because of lack of evidence.

The players allegedly received between 7,000 and 25,000 euros ($9,375-$33,485) per match to influence the outcome of the games, enabling their backers from Austria, Albania, Serbia and Chechnya to earn betting profits.