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

Amongst those targeted were ex 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 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.

Amongst 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.

Signori, now 43, was one of Italy's top strikers in the 1990s and was top scorer in Serie A three times with Lazio, with whom he won the Italian Cup once.

He is the eighth highest scorer of all-time in Serie A with 188 goals.

He made his name with Foggia under Zdenek Zeman in what became known as the miracle of Foggia.

He was part of an attacking triumvirate, alongside Ciccio Baiano and Roberto Rambaudi, who were the focal point of Foggia's attacking style under Zeman, which became known as Zemanlandia in the Italian press.