Forty-one players from South Korea’s K-League have had their lifetime bans extended worldwide following a match-fixing scandal, although 21 of them have been offered a reprieve, FIFA said yesterday.

The 41 had already been banned for life by the Korea FA following the scandal which erupted in 2011 and involved matches played the previous year. The scandal led the South Korean government to threaten to wind up the K-League if action was not taken.

Ten other players involved in match-fixing were given worldwide bans by FIFA in June while in March, South Korea’s volleyball association banned 11 players in a bid to curb corruption in domestic sport.

FIFA said that a reprieve had been offered to 21 players who turned themselves in during the voluntary reporting period and expressed “grave regret” about their involvement in match-fixing.