Stojkovic warns match-fixers

Yugoslav Football Association (YFA) president Dragan Stojkovic has vowed to stamp out corruption from his domestic league.

Warning to perpetrators
This season's first division has been dogged by allegations of match-fixing, and Stojkovic has warned that any future reports of incidences will be investigated - and any perpetrators severely punished. However, he added that actions in recent years had improved matters greatly.

'Significant step forward'
Stojkovic said: "Our primary goal has been to ensure regularity in domestic competition. For the last few seasons Yugoslavian football has been drowning in match-fixing and bribery and the championship used to be decided even before it started. The people had lost faith in football and the stadiums were empty. I think that this season we have made a significant step forward and this season has been much better. We will continue our efforts to make it as regular as possible."

Severe punishment
However, he warned: "If we come across even one evidence of corruption we will severely punish the responsible ones. I have warned everyone, even referees, that they will be severely punished and excluded from football if corruption is discovered."