Twenty-three suspected members of a bet-fixing ring were arrested in Spain on Friday.

Police made the arrest after the tax office, Europol and Interpol helped them uncover a system that granted the suspects access to match information before the bookmakers, allowing them to place bets with certainty, a police statement said.

Interpol said the gang used sophisticated satellite technology to access match information from "live video signals from around the world, straight from stadiums, pitches and arenas."

The gang's system then placed bets on matches in the Asian and South American football leagues, Union of European Football Associations Nations League, the Bundesliga, the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the Association of Tennis Professionals and International Tennis Federation tennis tournaments.

The gang used the identities of third parties to lay bets and collect the winnings so as not to arouse suspicion.

The investigation of the ring began in 2020 when police noticed a series of suspicious online bets on international table tennis events that were linked to a Romanian and Bulgarian criminal network working in Spain.

They also engaged in "fixing matches outside of Spain by corrupting athletes. Once the outcomes were agreed, crime group members based in Spain would then place online bets on a massive scale", Interpol said.

WITH AFP