Former soccer player Eli Cohen and other conspirators in a game-fixing scandal were sentenced yesterday to up to three years in prison. The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court gave Cohen and former referee Bariq Tahsin a three-year sentence for bribery and conspiracy involving several matches. The judge, Dan Mor, reasoned a stiff fine was necessary to deter future behavior and to protect the sport as a cultural institution.

Army Radio reporter Niv Raskin uncovered the conspiracy in 2001.

The judge also fined both convicts NIS 25,000 each. Another convict, Avi Hudeda, who also organized betting on the games, received 27 months in prison and a NIS 40,000 fine. The fourth person convicted in the case, former referee Haim Mirovsky, was sentenced to six months of community service and fined NIS 5,000.