Salvadorian football was rocked to its core on Wednesday as 22 players were suspended for 30 days by the nation’s federation for their role in an alleged match fixing scandal. The suspension was placed at 30 days due to the fact that the investigation remains ongoing.
"With the investigations which have been conducted up to this point, evidence has been collected which suggests that offences have been committed connected to so-called match-fixing," FESFUT said in a statement on Tuesday.
The matches in question are as follows: El Salvador's 5-0 Gold Cup loss to Mexico on July 5, 2011, a 2-1 loss to the United States on Feb. 24, 2010, a 1-0 loss to D.C. United on July 19, 2010, and a 4-1 loss to Paraguay on Feb. 6, 2012. In addition to banning the players, the Salvadorian national team will not play more games until the investigation is complete.
The ban extends to all competitions including the CONCACAF Champions League, which will have a direct impact on the LA Galaxy’s CCL opponents Isidro Metapan. Los Caleros will lose out on two players Eliseo Quintanilla and Alfredo Pacheco for their Sept. 18 match against the LA Galaxy -- and possibly beyond. Not only will these players not play with the team, but Metapan issued a release on their official Facebook page that the players will not be allowed to train with the rest of the team.
The complete list of players suspended is below:
Luis Anaya, Osael Romero, Ramón Sánchez , Christian Castillo, Eliseo Quintanilla, Miguel Granadino, Miguel Montes, Dagoberto Portillo, Rodolfo Zelaya, Víctor Turcios, Carlos Romeo Monteagudo, Dennis Alas, Alfredo Pacheco, Mardoqueo Henríquez, Marvin González, Carlos Carillo, Darwin Bonilla, Rodrigo Alejandro Martínez, Reynaldo Hernández, Ramón Flore, Benji Villalobos, Emerson Umaña
