Soccer-North Korea youth keeper banned for 'deliberate' goal

Nov 4 (Reuters) - North Korea youth goalkeeper Jang Paek-ho was handed a one-year ban and fined $1,000 on Friday for "the deliberate conceding of a goal" against Uzbekistan in September's AFC under-16 tournament in India. Both sides had already secured quarter-final slots but the 3-1 defeat allowed North Korea to finish second in the group and avoid eventual champions Iraq as their next opponents. When Uzbekistan's goalkeeper Jasurbek Umrzakov made a long clearance up the field in the 49th minute, Jang ran out of his area while the ball sailed over his head. He slipped and fell as he attempted to chase back to goal, got up and made a final dive as the ball rolled gently into the net in front of him. Paek-ho then conceded two more goals in the space of six minutes before being substituted. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement that the player, his country's Football Association and under-16 head Yung Jong-su "were all guilty of bringing the game into disrepute". It fined the North Korean FA $20,000 with an exclusion from the 2018 AFC U-19 championship, suspended for a one-year probationary period. The AFC said any repeat behaviour by the under-19 team in qualifiers for the 2018 championship would bring automatic exclusion. Yung was given a $5,000 fine and 12-month suspension, meaning that he and the goalkeeper are barred from next year's FIFA under-17 World Cup. The AFC also suspended Jin Jingdao, who plays for China's Shandong Luneng, for eight months after he tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing substance clenbuterol in an out of competition test in August. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)