Latvia's Football Association yesterday said it had expelled top-flight side Dinaburg FC from the national league due to a match-fixing scandal.

The FA said in a statement that besides punishing the club it had also disciplined Dinaburg's Georgian player-manager Tamaza Pertia and president Olegs Gavrilovs, both of whom were banned for life from any involvement in Latvian football.

It said it had acted after receiving "irrefutable evidence" of repeated match-fixing over a lengthy period, despite warnings to Dinaburg to clean up their act.

Dinaburg currently stand fourth in Latvia's nine-club Virsliga. The FA decided to let their previous results stand, but their remaining games will be recorded as 0-3 losses.

Suspicions of match-fixing have swirled around Dinaburg since 2005.

They gained credence in 2007 when Dinaburg were kicked out of the Baltic League, which pits top clubs from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Dinaburg allegedly threw a game with Estonian side Trans by missing two clearcut chances late on to keep their opponents' score at 2-0.

Dinaburg hail from Latvia's second-largest city of Daugavpils - which was known as Dinaburg in the early 20th century - and have played in the Virsliga since its inception in 1996.

The club was founded in 1990, a year before Latvia regained independence from the crumbling Soviet Union.