LONDON, England, November 28 – Three footballers and an agent are reported to be among six men arrested by police investigating alleged fixing of English football matches, the Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed the arrests as part of a crackdown on an “international betting syndicate”.
“Six men have been arrested across the country as part of an NCA investigation into alleged football match fixing,” said an NCA spokesman.
“The focus of the operation is a suspected international illegal betting syndicate.
“This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide further detail at this time.”
A Singapore “fixer” was recorded telling undercover reporters working for the British newspaper that the results of lower-league English games could be decided for £50,000 ($81,000, 60,000 euros) and correctly predicted the outcome of three games played by one team.
The team and arrested players cannot be named for legal reasons, but the agent was named by the Telegraph as former Bolton striker Delroy Facey.
No Premier League teams are believed to be involved in the probe.
The fixer explained that gamblers could used the insider information to place bets with Asian companies.
A Football Association spokesman said: “The FA has been made aware of a number of arrests in relation to an NCA investigation.
“We have worked closely with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time due to ongoing investigations.”