28 pro tennis players linked to massive match-rigging scheme

An Armenian gang's tennis match-fixing ring just got served.

Spain's Civil Guard has arrested 15 people and is investigating 68 more involved with bribing tennis players to deliver certain results, it announced Thursday. Of them, 28 are professional tennis players, including an unnamed player who competed at last year's U.S. Open, BBC reports.

The people arrested included those at the head the ring, which bribed players to win or lose matches to predetermine their outcomes. The group then "used the identities of thousands of citizens to place international bets on the matches," European Union police agency Europol said in a statement. Police also arrested Spanish player Marc Fornell-Mestres, who allegedly worked as a liaison between players and the ring leaders. Spanish officials didn't reveal any other names, Sports Illustrated says.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The probe launched after the Tennis Integrity Unit warned of "irregular activities" in matches in 2017, per BBC. Europol then searched 11 homes related to the probe, seizing close to $200,000, a shotgun, and luxury items, and freezing 42 bank accounts.