Kuala Lumpur, Jan 9 (IANS): The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Friday banned three Indonesian shuttlers for life for involvement in match fixing. It also said that it has suspended a Malaysian citizen who is a representative of an equipment that sponsors international badminton players.

The BWF said that the two cases had come to light due to reports from whistleblowers about "corrupt behaviour including approaches to fix a match or to manipulate part of their match for money".

"Eight Indonesian players who knew each other, and competed in lower-level international competitions mostly in Asia up until 2019, breached BWF Integrity Regulations related to match fixing, match manipulation and/or betting on badminton," said the BWF in its statement.

"Three of them were found to have coordinated and organised others into being complicit in the behaviour and have been suspended from all badminton related activities for life."

The sport's global governing body said that it has been investigating the Malaysian citizen for "a number of years".

"The IHP found that the individual had approached international badminton athletes and offered money to manipulate matches, bet on multiple badminton matches including matches involving players that were sponsored by the individuals' employer and had abused his position of influence as an executive in a sporting brand in an attempt to corrupt international badminton and enrich himself," the BWF said.