Suspected European match-fixing ring raided

Police arrested several people in Germany and abroad yesterday on suspicion of bribing football players and officials to fix matches in top European leagues, German prosecutors said.

"The accused are suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and officials from high-ranking European football leagues to manipulate the results of games," said a statement from prosecutors in the western city of Bochum.

The investigations, carried out with UEFA, have been ongoing since the beginning of 2009.

"As a result of the investigations... several searches and arrests took place throughout Germany and abroad," the statement added.

Contacted by AFP, prosecutors refused to provide further details but said a news conference would take place today.

According to the Berliner Morgenpost daily, investigations have been launched into around 100 suspects involved in placing huge bets on allegedly fixed matches in the Turkish first flight.

Harald Stenger, a spokesman for the German Football Federation (DFB), said: "As far as the DFB knows, no German matches are affected."

The Berliner Morgenpost cited one top investigator as saying the probe could result in "one of the biggest scandals in the history of professional football."

"This earthquake will shake the credibility of the sport for a long time," the paper quoted the investigator as saying.

The ring reportedly placed enormous bets with Asian bookmakers and Turkish international players were said to be involved in the fraud. The accused are primarily Kosovans, Spiegel TV reported.

German football is still recovering from a scandal in 2004, when referee Robert Hoyzer admitting to rigging matches for a Croatian mafia ring.

The matches concerned were mainly in the German second and third division, but a German Cup match between first division SV Hamburg and third division Paderborn and a first division match in Turkey were also affected.

Hoyzer, who said he was given €70,000 for fixing matches, received death threats after admitting his guilt on television.

He was sentenced to two years and five months behind bars but was released after serving only half of his sentence.

In 2008, Berlin was rocked by more allegations, that the 2006 World Cup knock-out stage match between Brazil and Ghana in Germany was influenced by an Asian betting syndicate.

Der Spiegel magazine reported that large sums of money had been bet on Brazil winning by at least two goals and a former Ghana international acted as an intermediary.