AFC brings down ban hammer on Mongolian side’s individuals for match fixing charges in 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League

Mongolian official Munkhtsetseg Batkhuu receives a 10-year ban

The 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League was marred by the discovery of a case of match-fixing that took place in the preliminary qualification stages earlier in the campaign. This pertains to the Mongolian women’s football side Khovd Western WFC, who were involved in the preliminary stages of the 25-26 AFC Women’s Champions League – after having won the 2024-25 Mongolian Premier League championship.

In the preliminary stages of the AFC Women’s Champions League, Khovd Western were placed in a four-team group alongside Filipino side Stallion Laguna, Myanmar team ISPE, and Guam side Strykers WFC.

As per the regulations, the teams that finished in the top two after the group stages – where each team would face the other three once – would qualify for the 2025-26 Women’s Champions League group stages.

AFC hands out heavy ban to players and football officials

Mongolian side Khovd Western started their campaign in a clash against Stallion Laguna, where they ended up getting overwhelmed and suffering a 6-1 defeat.

However, it appears that the AFC had been notified of some illegal activity that happened during the game, which prompted them to investigate the match, especially the antics of the Khovd Western squad.

AFC has now discovered that Khovd Western forward Namuuna Marmandakh was involved in a case of match-fixing, where she tried to manipulate the result against her side. However, Namuuna did not play for Khovd Western in the match.

Not just that, but Mongolian football official Munkhtsetseg Batkhuu has also been found guilty of manipulating the match, which has caused the AFC to bring down a serious ban hammer onto them.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed that Namuuna Narmandakh has been banned from all football-related activities for five years because of her match-fixing conviction. Moreover, Batkhuu has also been served a 10-year ban because of the two violating the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code.

In an official statement on the matter, the AFC stated: “Following an extensive investigation, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee has taken firm action against attempted match manipulation by banning Mongolian football official Ms Munkhtsetseg Batkhuu and player Ms Namuuna Narmandakh from all football-related activities for ten and five years respectively.”

“Both individuals were found guilty of conspiring to manipulate the result of the AFC Women’s Champions League 2025/26 (Preliminary Stage) match between Stallion Laguna FC (PHI) and Khovd Western FC (MNG) on 25 August 2025, in violation of Article 66.1 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code.”

“These sanctions reaffirm the AFC’s zero-tolerance policy against any type of match manipulation and its continued commitment to protecting the integrity of Asian football.”

Khovd Western WFC only won one of their three matches in the AFC Women’s Champions League 2025-26 preliminary stages, picking up one win and suffering two defeats and finishing third in the group.

How does the final phase of the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League look like?

The 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League, of course, featured an Indian side in East Bengal WFC – who finished in third place in their group that contained defending champions Wuhan Jiangda and WFC Nasaf. The competition is now well into its semi-finals stages, with the one-legged semis set to take place on 20 May (2026) in Suwon (South Korea).

The two semi-finals which are set will see Melbourne City WFC face off against Japanese side NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza in one clash.

The other one will see hosts Suwon WFC face off against North Korean side Naegohyang WFC, with the winners of these two semi-finals meeting in the grand finale on 23 May, 2026.

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