MADRID, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Nine people including professional footballers currently playing in the Spanish first and second divisions (Liga Santander and Liga 123) have been arrested as part of an operation against supposed match fixing, police have confirmed.
Among those detained are former Real Madrid defender, Raul Bravo and striker Carlos Aranda, along with Valladolid's Borja Fernandez (another product of the Real Madrid youth system) and Deportivo la Coruna's former SD Huesca player, Inigo Lopez Montana.
Huesca President Agustin Lasaosa and the chief of the club's medical services, Juan Carlos Galindo, have also been detained.
Getafe's Samuel Saiz Alonso is also reported to be among those under investigation in 'Operation Oikos', which is looking into the possible 'fixing' of the results of at least three Liga Santander matches, as well as others in the Liga 123 and other categories of the Spanish game.
Meanwhile searches have been carried out in the cities of Valladolid, Malaga, Madrid, Huesca and La Coruna.
Among the games which are thought to be under suspicion is Huesca's defeat at home to Gimnastic Tarragona in the 2017-18 campaign and Valencia's 2-0 win in Valladolid in the last game of the season which ended less than a fortnight ago. The last result is especially significant as it allowed the club to qualify for next season's Champions League, although both clubs have issued statements denying any wrongdoing.
Those detained face charges of belonging to a criminal organization, as well as fraud and money laundering.
"I can confirm that we have carried out a police operation against an organization which fixed the result of matches which affected games in the Primera, Segunda, Segunda B (third tier) and Tercera (fourth category)," said Francisco Pardo, the Director General of the Spanish National Police force.
Pardo explained that suspicions had arisen after unusual levels of betting had been registered in several games.
"We are working in a very significant number of operations which are linked to this match fixing network. It usually needs a lot of work and collaboration with LaLiga (Spanish Football League) and the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation)" added Pardo.
Meanwhile a spokesperson for LaLiga confirmed the police action "follows a complaint filed by LaLiga with the Spanish authorities about possible match-fixing in a May 2018 match."
"We want to thank the national police for the extraordinary work done to dismantle what appears to be an organized criminal group dedicated to obtaining economic benefits through the predetermination of football matches," add LaLiga.
