Seventeen held for football match-fixing

Cristiano Doni

Five football players were among 17 people arrested in Italy Monday suspicion of participation in an international match-fixing ring based in Singapore.

Cristiano Doni, the Atalanta captain suspended in August for three-and-a-half years by the Italian soccer federation (FIGC) over alleged match-fixing, was arrested as a cautionary measure to prevent him from tampering with possible evidence.

The arrest of 16 people in June over match-rigging in Italy’s Serie B prompted Italian authorities to form a task force to probe the links between organised crime and soccer. Officials Monday said at least three Serie A games may have been fixed during the 2010-11 season.

Suspects are facing charges of fraud and criminal association. They allegedly have ties to organised criminals in Singapore and the Balkans and were paid to fix the results of matches.

In 2006 a match-fixing scandal hit Serie A resulting in Turin club Juventus’ demotion to Serie B and point reductions for Lazio, Milan and Fiorentina.