Kevin Sammut's life ban from football has been reduced to 10 years after his appeal was partially upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The CAS decision was confirmed by Lucio Sciriha, one of Sammut's lawyers, who told www.timesofmalta.com that the panel ruled that the lifetime ban was disproportionate to the role Sammut had in the case.

"The life ban has been reduced to 10 years, starting from August 2012 when the first judgment was given by UEFA," Dr Sciriha said.

"Also CAS have ordered that all expenses connected with this case are to be borne by UEFA."

Dr Sciriha said that Sammut reiterates his innocence and has done all that was possible, given the limitations he faced to clear his name.

Sammut has always denied accusations that he accepted a bribe from a Croatian betting gang in June 2007 to help fix Malta's Euro 2008 qualifier in Norway. Malta lost 4-0.

UEFA originally suspended Sammut for 10 years in August 2012 but its own appeals panel extended that to life.

Convicted fixer Marijo Cvrtak had claimed inhis initial trial at Bochum, Germany, that he met three Malta players at their Oslo hotel before the Norway qualifier.

Sammut's defence team are expected to hold a news conference in the coming days.