Madrid, May 28 (IANS) The Spanish National police have confirmed the arrest of several footballers who either play or have played in the Liga Santander or the Liga 123 (Spanish first and second divisions) during an anti match-fixing operation.

The players arrested are former Real Madrid duo Raul Bravo and Carlos Aranda, Real Valladolid's Borja Fernandez, who played for ATK in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 editions of the Indian Super League, and Getafe's Samuel Saiz Alonso and Deportivo la Coruna's Inigo Lopez Montana, Xinhua news reported.

Borja and Alonso also started their careers in Real Madrid's youth squad.

Inigo Lopez had previously played for SD Huesca and the president of that club, Agustin Lasoasa and the chief of Huesca's medical services, Juan Carlos Galindo, are also reported to have been detained.

It is thought the players were involved in match-fixing in order to make money through online betting and they face charges of belonging to a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering.

--IANS rkm/bg