BRATISLAVA, Nov.25 (Xinhua) -- Three Slovak junior ice hockey premier league players on Friday received parole sentences for match fixing from the Specialised Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica in central Slovakia.
The three young players, who were among the leaders of elite team HC Kosice, allegedly last year attempted to manipulate the result of a match with the team Mladez Michalovce.
One of the players, Jakub V., allegedly approached all three Kosice goaltenders to let Kosice lose the game against Michalovce for a financial reward.
The other two players, Peter K. and Liridon G., later directly approached the goalie who had been selected to play, offering him a bribe.
During the first period of the game itself, the Kosice coach noticed that the three aforementioned players were far behind their normal performance, and everything came to light during the first intermission. Kosice eventually won the game, but the club filed a criminal complaint.
The three players denied any involvement in match fixing before the court. Nevertheless, the goaltender testified against them.
Jakub V. received a two-year parole sentence, and Peter K. and Liridon G. got six-month suspended sentences each.
