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Geel guilty of 'attempted bribery'

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Second division Geel will be relegated at the end of the season after the Belgian FA found the club guilty of attempting to bribe players.

The FA will also recommend to world ruling body FIFA that former Geel manager, Bruno Belmans, be banned for three years.

"Although we have no evidence that money changed hands, we are convinced that there was intent on Geel's part," said an FA spokesman.

"Geel will be relegated to the third division, with a six-point deficit at the start of the season. If they are relegated this season, they will drop another division with a 12-point deficit."

Geel, who knocked Anderlecht out of the Belgian FA Cup a fortnight ago, are bottom of the second division after 12 games. The club will also be fined 6,250 euros.

In a separate decision, the Belgian FA will recommend Swiss player Jean-Pierre La Placa be banned for three years after being found guilty of attempting to bribe players while at second division Red Star Waasland.

The 32 year-old defender is currently playing for Finland's AC Allianssi.

On Tuesday, the Finnish first division club said it wanted to break all ties with its main owner Zheyun Ye after the Chinese businessman became embroiled in a betting scandal in Belgium.

Ye, a 40-year-old Chinese national, was arrested on November 2 in Brussels in an investigation over alleged match-fixing.

Local Belgian media reported Ye had bought a stake in Lierse, who succumbed to a 4-0 drubbing by Beerschot.

This is just one of six cases being investigated in Belgium with Ye linked to them all.

Allianssi were fined 10,000 euros ($11,810) in August for insufficient preparations before an 8-0 defeat to Haka Valkeakoski on July 7.

The game had attracted far heavier betting than usual but a disciplinary committee said there was no evidence that the match was fixed. The Finnish league handed the case over to the police.

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