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Law enforcement officials in Germany said Friday that 17 people were arrested for allegedly taking part in a major match-fixing ring in European soccer.
The New York Times said the 15 people arrested in Germany and two individuals detained in Switzerland are accused of trying to fix the results of nearly 200 soccer games, including three games in Europe's professional Champions League.
The alleged attempts to manipulate game results in nine different countries involved efforts to bribe soccer officials ranging from players to referees. Authorities allege the suspects were also involved with an international gambling ring that had clients in Europe and Asia.
Both authorities and Union of European Football Associations officials refused to offer specific details regarding the matches and suspects at the center of the match-fixing scandal, the Times said.
"Without question, this is the biggest betting fraud in the history of U.E.F.A.," the European soccer organization's head of anti-fraud operations, Peter Limacher, said.
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