TEHRAN – The Ethics Committee of the Football Federation of Iran found Shahrdari Astara team guilty of match-fixing.

The Iranian club were relegated to Division B.

The team lost to Palayesh Naft 7-1 while their players made no effort to prevent the opposing team from scoring.

Shahrdari Astara coach Ghasem Dehnavi, who has been banned for one year, has said that this behavior was merely a protest against the referee's decisions in the first half.