FIFA ban ex-South Korea international

Former South Korea international Choi Sung-Kuk has been banned from playing professional football by FIFA, K-League officials said Friday.

Choi, 29, was implicated in a match-fixing scandal last year along with several other players from his former club Sangju Sangmu Phoenix.

The FIFA ban comes after the disgraced winger attempted to restart his career by joining Macedonia’s FK Rabotnicki during the northern winter, only to see the move fall through after the Football Federation of Macedonia rejected the late registration application.

“FIFA has banned Choi Sung-Kuk from playing football as a professional player in any league in the world,” read the K-League statement, which also noted that the Asian Football Confederation, UEFA, and FFM had been alerted to the decision.

Choi earned 26 caps for South Korea, scoring two goals.