Athlone duo to fight their case
IGORS LABUTS and Dragos Sfrijan will have their appeal against a 12-month ban heard within the next 15 days. The Athlone Town goalkeeper and midfielder were last week slapped with the controversial FAI suspension arising from the lengthy match-fixing probe. But Labuts and Sfrijan yesterday lodged their appeal to the FAI, maintaining they will fight to clear their names. It has to be heard within 15 days of submission and the pair will have to go before a new three-person panel, selected by the FAI. If their ban is not overturned, the Latvian and Romanian can then appeal to an independent arbitrator. If that also fails, the duo can appeal to the heavyweight Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Both Labuts and Sfrijan have already indicated they will go all the way to CAS if all other avenues of appeal fail. But it will cost the pair in excess of €7,000 if they want to take it that far – and half of that is the CAS fee alone. Last Thursday, the FAI deemed Labuts and Sfrijan guilty of gambling, manipulating matches and bringing the game into disrepute. The ruling came after a four-month probe into suspicious betting activity on Asian markets on an Athlone Town-longford Town league game on April 29. But the PFAI – who are representing the two players – said in a statement: “No evidence exists that these players were guilty of any such offence.” Labuts and Sfrijan are still in Ireland and have no plans to leave as they fight to clear their names.