The Israel Police said Monday that 17 people affiliated with a soccer team in Israel’s second-tier league were arrested in a match-fixing and money laundering probe.

Those arrested include current players and senior administrators in the team, who are suspected of involvement in match-fixing over the past three years, police said.

The team was FC Kiryat Yam, which is based in a town near Haifa and plays in the National League, Israel’s second division.

Those arrested are also suspected of ties to a criminal organization that is believed to have used the club as a “platform for criminal activities” to launder millions of shekels from illicit gambling, police said.

Illegal gambling operations were allegedly conducted in Israel and abroad with bets on the outcomes of games that were fixed in advance. The operation involved tens of millions of shekels, police said, and some players were signed on multiple contracts.

Officers........

© The Times of Israel