Match fixing probe found 380 suspicious games

Europol's chief Rob Wainwright said Monday the investigation uncovered "match fixing activity on a scale we have not seen before."

Wainwright says the probe uncovered €8 million ($10.9 million) in betting profits and €2 million ($2.7 million) in bribes to players and officials and has already led to several prosecutions. Wainwright says the involvement of organized crime "highlights a big problem for the integrity of football in Europe."

Some 425 match officials, club officials, players and criminals are suspected of being involved.

It was not immediately clear how many of the matches mentioned Monday have been revealed in previous match fixing investigations at a national level in countries including Germany and Italy.

Officials said they feared this was the "tip of the iceberg".

Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, said: " This is the work of a suspected organised crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with criminal networks around Europe.

"It is clear to us this is the biggest-ever investigation into suspected match-fixing in Europe. It has yielded major results which we think have uncovered a big problem for the integrity of football in Europe.

"We have uncovered an extensive criminal network."

Europol gave the details on Monday at a news conference in The Hague, Netherlands.