AFC Champions League holders Jeonbuk Motors have been banned from continental competition in 2017 over a match-fixing scandal in the K-League, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Wednesday.
Last year, Jeonbuk were docked nine points and fined 100 million South Korean won (approximately US$85,000) by the Korean Football Association after one of their scouts was found to have made payments to referees in 2013. The points deduction ultimately handed FC Seoul the K-League title ahead of Jeonbuk.
Jeonbuk defeated Al-Ain 3-2 on aggregate in the 2016 Champions League final but will not be given the chance to defend their title.
A club statement confirmed the four-time Korean champions will step up their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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