Russia bans 24 basketball players in gambling case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MOSCOW (AP) The Russian Basketball Federation says it has banned 24 players from 11 clubs as part of an investigation into gambling.
The punishments follow an anti-corruption campaign under federation president Andrei Kirilenko, who played 13 seasons in the NBA with teams including the Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets.
The federation says in a statement that it analyzed bookmakers' data as part of the probe, which found cases of players betting on games involving their own clubs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The players, who all play in the second-level Russian Superleague, were banned for periods ranging from six months to three years.
The federation did not provide a breakdown of which player had been banned for which offense, but said some had received reduced sentences because they gave ''honest'' confessions.