Bucker not surprised by match-fixing allegations

On Tuesday it emerged that seasoned internationals Ramez Dayoub, who plays for Selangor in Malaysia, and Mahmoud El Ali who plies his trade with Indonesia's Persiba Balikpapan, had been handed life suspensions by the Lebanese Football Association for alleged match-fixing activities.

In total, 24 players have been suspended in the wake of the investigation, with Lebanon's 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Qatar in June last year one of the games under suspicion.

The match against Qatar was Lebanon's first ever in the final round of World Cup qualifying, but a dreadful error from Dayoub gifted a goal to Sebastian Soria and subsequently all three points to Qatar.

Despite Dayoub and El Ali both subsequently protesting their innocence, a disappointed Bucker is convinced that the video evidence available suggests otherwise.

"Personally I'm very disappointed with a couple of guys I really trusted. For us this situation was clear a few months ago, directly after the (June) match against Qatar," Bucker told Sport360°.

"You can tell by watching our friend Ramez, he tried several times to play the striker through on goal until he was successful, that was the first time we thought something might be wrong.

"It took me a while to believe it myself, because I thought there was no way these guys would ever do something like this, but here we have the proof.

"If you see how he gestures for the ball all the time and then makes a bad pass, several times with real intention. Of course, (he says he is innocent). Now they might find out what they have been doing," the German concluded.

With an appeal pending, Dayoub, meanwhile, has insisted he will take the Lebanese FA to court and the case to FIFA.

"I am not guilty," he told FOX Sports on Wednesday.

"They (the Lebanese FA) have suspended me and accused me of match-fixing without any evidence or proof."