Arrests made in European football match-fixing inquiry

Uefa says it is working closely with German authorities in the inquiry

Police investigating suspected match-fixing in major European football leagues have made a series of arrests across Europe, officials said.

German prosecutors said raids had been carried out in Germany and other undisclosed European countries.

A statement said the arrests come as part of an investigation supported by the European football body, Uefa.

It said an international gang was suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to fix games.

The gang then made money by betting on the results, it is alleged.

Reports in the German media said that games in the Turkish top division were suspected of having been manipulated.

Berlin newspaper Morgenpost said the inquiry had targeted 100 people.

In a statement, Uefa said it was aware of Thursday's action and had been "working closely with German authorities through its betting fraud detection system".

In September, Uefa said it was investigating 40 cases of suspected match-fixing involving games in the Champions League and Uefa Cup.

It said the games were from the past four years - with 15 in the past two - and mainly involved Eastern European teams.

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