Bangladesh Premier League outfit Arambagah Krira Sangha have been demoted to the third-tier for their involvement in live betting, spot fixing, match manipulation and online betting in three BPL matches while Brothers Union, another club which under investigation, have been cleared of the allegations.

Besides, 14 footballers of Arambagh including two foreign recruits -- Smith Bradie Christian of Australia and Chizoba Christopher Lyikwobe of Nigeria -- have been suspended from all footballing activities for various terms ranging from two to five years.

The club's former president Minhazul Islam, former team manager Mohammad Gowhor Jahangir Rusho, assistant team manager Mohammad Arif Hossain and fitness trainer Maidul Islam Sheikh of India were handed life-time ban from football while the team's physio Sanjoy Bose of India and game analyst Azizul Sheikh of India were banned for 10 years.

The club will have to play in the first division for two years without the option of promotion at the end of first year. The club has also been fined Tk 500,000 lakh, to be paid within one month.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Disciplinary Committee of Bangladesh Football Federation on Thursday, following a six-month long investigation, started in February over a tip-off by Asian the Football Confederation (AFC) regarding five BPL matches -- Arambagh KS vs Abahani, Arambagh KS vs Sheikh Russel, Arambagh KS vs Mohammedan, Brothers Union vs Bashundhara Kings and Brothers Union vs Abahani.

"The Disciplinary Committee did not consider the present status of Arambagh KS, which was already relegated to Bangladesh Championship League from the BPL. They considered an exemplary punishment to demote the club two tiers from the top-tier league," BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag said. "The committee did not find any information, evidence or voice records incriminating Brothers Union, which is why the club was cleared of the allegations."

Arambagh, who had collected only one point from the 12 matches of the first leg in the league, eventually ended up with eight points and finished 12th among 13 teams. Brothers were the other relegated side, having finished bottom of the table with seven points.

Although there had been allegations of match-fixing against clubs in the top-tier club football in the past, no club had previously been relegated by the BFF. Some officials and players, however, were slapped with fines and bans on some of those occasions.

This time, though, the fate of Arambagh looked sealed, provided the allegations were proven, since the investigation had started at the behest of the AFC. The continental body, which monitors professional leagues of different countries through third party, had asked the BFF to investigate the suspicious matches. Except for the Nigerian footballer, the fixed-match identification committee reached almost every alleged player, official or coaching staff either face-to-face or through virtual platform.

The BFF will send the decisions to the AFC and will seek imposition of continental punishment on the foreign nationals involved.  

Former national team captain-turned-coach Golam Sarwar Tipu thinks that the punishment is exemplary.

"It is understandable that BFF took the decision in light of AFC regulations and I think they did the right thing by demoting Arambagh." Tipu said. "I think online or spot betting will be checked now and the clubs will be aware of being involved in such heinous activities."