25 Mar 2010

Turkish police arrest 46 in match fixing investigation

9:39 am on 25 March 2010

Turkish police have detained 46 people including professional footballers from the country's top division in connection with a match-fixing probe.

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) confirmed that an investigation by Istanbul prosecutors was underway.

The broadcaster CNN Turk says those detained include a former national player, a deputy trainer of Istanbul club Buyuksehir Belediyespor and a striker with the club.

Buyuksehir Belediyespor were not available for comment.

The TFF says it filed a complaint about suspected match-fixing and manipulation with prosecutors in Istanbul's Sariyer district last August.

The TFF added the probe was not related to an investigation into a huge match-fixing ring exposed by prosecutors in the German city of Bochum last November, although information from that investigation had been passed on to Turkish authorities.

The ring in Bochum involved 200 matches, 29 of which were from Turkey's first division.