Italian cops arrest 50 over Italian football leagues match-fixing

Italian police anti-corruption unit detained 50 people, including team managers, players and a suspected Calabrian mobster, on Tuesday for allegedly fixing dozens of matches in Italian football’s third tier professional league, Lega Pro.

“The probe demonstrates there was a heinous pact of corruption in the world of soccer,” said Andrea Grassi, investigator from Italian anti-mafia police unit. “It shows the interest of criminal networks in the business generated by soccer and the legal betting industry.”

According to a police official, the investigation began when police tapped the telephone of a member of the Lannazzo mob family in Calabria and discovered that he was arranging matches to make money by betting on them.

Investigators suspect Serie B, Lega Pro and Serie D matches from the 2014-15 season were fixed.  Investigators said there were two different criminal gangs, one to set up the games in Lega Pro and the other those in Serie D.