FK Pobeda, a team currently playing in the Macedonian Prva Liga, was banned for eight years from European play for fixing the outcome of a 2004 Champions League qualifier against FC Pyunik (of Armenia). Team president Aleksandar Zabrcanec and then-captain Nikolce Zdravevski were banned for life.
Pobeda, according to the panel judging the fate of the club in a seven-hour long meeting, made sure they lost to Pyunik back in 2004.
While Pobeda's far from being the team you'd see playing alongside major football clubs, it's just right for them to get the kind of punishment they received; no one should get away from fixing the results of matches. It's that lack of sportsmanship and integrity that threatens the competitiveness and quality of international football, and Pobeda, while being a small-fry in the grand scheme of things, isn't entitled to any exceptions, lest the governing bodies risk tainting the overall integrity of European competitions.
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