Morgenpost are reporting that Ante Sapina has been arrested in connection to the probe [GALLO/GETTY]

The arrests of an undisclosed number of people in Germany and abroad, came as part of a probe into match-fixing supported by European football's governing body Uefa, according to a statement by the prosecutor's office in Bochum.

The probe has been under way since the beginning of the year and has targeted an international gang suspected of wide-ranging match-fixing.

A Berlin newspaper reported that a Croatian man convicted as the mastermind of a German match-fixing scandal in 2005 was among those arrested on Thursday.

The Berliner Morgenpost's online edition said Ante Sapina and his brother were among five people arrested in Berlin and that 15 arrest warrants in 10 countries had been issued.

Corruption

The gang is suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and officials in "high-ranking European leagues'' to manipulate games in order to make money on betting, the statement said Thursday.

It said raids were conducted in Germany and Europe on Thursday and that a large number of arrests were made.

No other details were given. A news conference is scheduled for Friday in Bochum.

Uefa said it was aware of Thursday's action, adding that it had been "working closely with German authorities through its betting fraud detection system for monitoring irregular betting patterns.

"While the investigation is ongoing Uefa does not wish to comment on a particular case,'' it said.

The Morgenpost reported that games in the Turkish top division were suspected of being manipulated and that the probe by Bochum investigators targeted 200 people.

Top players in Turkey are among the suspects, the newspaper said.

Quoting Berlin security sources, the newspaper said the gang apparently operated from Germany and that its boss apparently lived in Berlin.

Morgenpost said Ante Sapina and his brother Milan were among those arrested on
Thursday.

Fraud

Ante Sapina was convicted of fraud in 2005 and sentenced to 35 months in prison for fixing or attempting to fix 23 games by paying German referee Robert Hoyzer to rig matches Sapina and his brothers bet on.

Ante Sapina's brothers Milan and Filip were given suspended sentences.

Hoyzer was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 29 months in prison after admitting he had manipulated games mostly in German lower divisions on behalf of the three brothers, who made millions by betting on the games.

Uefa said two months ago that it was investigating 40 cases of suspected match-fixing in the Champions League and Uefa Cup, mostly involving eastern European clubs.

The matches under investigation were early qualifying games that took place over the last four seasons.

Uefa has beefed up its early warning system to protect against illegal betting and match-fixing and president Michel Platini has described those issues as the greatest problem facing European football.

The detection system monitors all top two divisions across Europe and domestic cup games.

Match ban

A Macedonian club, FK Pobeda, has been banned from European competitions
for eight years and club president Aleksandar Zabrcanec and then-team captain Nikolce Zdraveski have received lifetime bans.

The two allegedly ensured the team lost a Champions League qualifying round match against Armenian club Pyunik in July 2004. They deny the charges.

Uefa also reportedly has informed Russian officials that it suspects several domestic league games to have been manipulated this season.

Russian daily newspaper Vremya Novostei last month cited a letter it said Uefa sent to the Russian Football Union in September alleging suspicious betting patterns on six matches.

The clubs involved allegedly include Krylya Sovietov, Terek Grozny, Spartak Nalchik, Tom Tomsk and Amkar Perm from the Premier League, and four clubs from the first division.