Asian champions Jeonbuk banned from 2017 Champions League.

Asian title-holders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have been banned from this year's AFC Champions League over a match-fixing scandal in South Korea's K-League, Asia's football governing body said yesterday.

"The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) independent Entry Control Body today declared that Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) is ineligible to participate in AFC competitions for the 2017 season due to its indirect involvement in activities aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of matches during the 2013 and 2014 K-League seasons," the confederation said in a statement.

In September, K-League leader Jeonbuk was docked nine points and fined 100 million won (US$83,000) after one of its scouts was convicted of bribing referees during the 2013 season. As a result, Jeonbuk narrowly missed out on the Korean title. But it beat UAE's al-Ain 3-2 on aggregate in the ACL final to lift Asia's most prestigious club trophy. At the 2017 ACL, Jeonbuk had been placed in Group H with Adelaide United of Australia, Jiangsu FC of China and a playoff-winning team to be determined later.

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