11 soccer players arrested in Georgia in match-fixing case

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Eleven soccer players in Georgia have been arrested on suspicion of match-fixing and face lengthy prison sentences.

The State Security Service says eight current players and three former players have been arrested in relation to matches in the country’s two top divisions.

Five were members of the WIT Georgia squad which lost to league leader Dinamo Batumi 2-0 on Sunday in one of the games under investigation. Players from two lower-league clubs are also among the suspects.

The security service says the players were approached by an “organized group” which made 93,500 lari ($34,000) off the match-fixing.

The players face between four and six years in prison under Georgian legislation.