“These activities involving a few miscreants represent a severe breach of our values, undermine the integrity of our sport and disrespect the fans who passionately support Mizoram Football,” read the statement.

“As a consequence of these findings we have imposed strict penalties on those involved. We also assure stakeholders that clubs found to be complicit in these activities will face sanctions affecting their participation in future competitions, and players and officials implicated will be subject to suspensions and other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate by the MFA.”

The three clubs that were penalised by the state association were, Sihphir Venghlun FC, Ramhlun Atletico FC and FC Bethlehem and all of them received three year bans. The three clubs are all part of the top state league and Sihphir finished among the top four, losing out in the semi-final to eventual winners Aizawl FC.

An official each from the three clubs was suspended as well with Robert Laldithara of Sihphir receiving a five-year ban. Two players Lalnunzama of Chanmari FC and L Lotha of FC Bethlehem also received lifetime bans.

The majority of players banned were from Sihphir Venghlun FC, which had 14 of the 24 banned players, according to the list released by the MFA.

“We want to assure all fans, partners and stakeholders that we are taking every measure to prevent any recurrence of any such incidents. The MFA will enhance its regulatory frameworks and strengthen monitoring mechanisms to safeguard the fairness of our competitions,” said the MFA.

In the past year, the state body has tried to tackle a key issue that has plagued football at their level. In June, the MFA started an Amnesty programme that allowed players with falsified date of births to come forward confidentially and provide a government-issued digital birth certificate that matched their date of birth on the All India Football Federation’s Centralised Registration System. This would allow the players to participate in age competitions organised by the MFA.