A Malaysian badminton player hit with a career-ending 20-year ban rejected allegations of match-fixing today and said he will appeal, claiming he was involved in a spot of casino gambling but not corruption.
Former world junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli, 25, was banned this week and fined $25,000 after the sport's world governing body ruled that he had engaged in corrupt practices dating back to 2013.
A second Malaysian player, Tan Chun Seang, 31, was barred for 15 years and fined $15,000. The bans came after the pair faced a Badminton World Federation (BWF) ethics hearing in Singapore in February.
But at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Zulfadli insisted he was innocent: "I have in no way spoken about, let alone been involved in, match-fixing."
"Our conversations were also translated by the BWF from (Malay) to English, and it was incomplete."
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