Former Italy striker Giuseppe Signori was among 16 people arrested for match-fixing in a co-ordinated sting by Italian police yesterday, Italian news agency Ansa reported.

Among those targeted were former Serie A players and current players from both Serie B and Serie C as well as club directors from the lower leagues.

The investigation was led by the mobile squad from Cremona but also included help from police forces from a dozen other major towns, including Rome, Naples and Turin.

Magistrates in Cremona issued seven arrest warrants and nine orders for detention under house arrest, of which Signori’s was one of the latter.

Among those arrested were also employees of betting shops, while the investigation concerns around 30 people in total.

Those arrested formed part of a criminal organisation, according to Ansa, in which everyone had a specific role with the view to manipulating matches in their favour.

The suspects managed to fix certain results through verbal agreements and payments.

The investigation was launched six months ago and investigators used a match in Cremona to try to determine who was behind the organisation.

Meanwhile, the public prosecutor for Capuano and Narducci has recommended a five-year jail term for former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi for his role in the 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

Moggi was among a number of people, including club owners, officials, referees and refereeing delegators, in the dock in a court in Naples over their roles in the match-fixing affair. Fiorentina owners Andrea and Diego Della Valle and Lazio president Claudio Lotito are the other most high-profile defendants facing custodial sentences.

The public prosecutor asked for a five-year sentence to be handed down to Moggi while asking that the Delle Valle brothers be given two years and Lotito put behind bars for one year and 10 months.