Xu Hu, deputy director of the ministry's security management bureau, said police had broken up an underground gambling ring that involved team managers, coaches and a senior official from the Guangzhou Football Association.

In the Singapore case, Wang allegedly asked his players in Liaoning Guangyuan, a club that was registered to play in the Singaporean league in 2007, to throw matches. He posted S$80,000 (HK$448,500) bail, but fled back to the mainland in January last year, the Sanlian Life Weekly magazine reported yesterday. Seven of his players were found guilty three months later and received up to five months in jail or a fine.

Xu said Wang confessed to trying to fix a second-tier league match between Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Shanxi Luhu on August 16, 2006. The match was important to Guangzhou - if they won, they would have secured promotion to the top flight.

Wang enlisted the help of Ding Zhe , a former teammate and deputy team manager of Shanxi, and Shanxi's team manager Wang Po . 'I called Ding and told him to give Wang Po the money, asking him to make sure they lost the game,' he was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Through intermediaries You Kewei, coach of Xiamen Lanshi, and Zhong Guojian, team manager of Guangdong Xiongying, Wang contacted Yang Xu, then deputy team manager of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and now deputy chairman of the Guangzhou FA.

Yang paid Shanxi 200,000 yuan (HK$227,000) to guarantee a win.

Yang, who knew the city government was keen on a victory to boost Guangzhou's reputation, made the deal with the association's support.

Police found Wang Xin and Wang Po bet on the match through a global gambling website - using money provided by Yang - and each earned tens of thousands of yuan in profit after Guangzhou strolled to a 5-1 win.

The six men were among the 16 arrested. Xu said their close ties indicated soccer-related crime was organised and often relied on networks of friends. Team leaders had the power to control players and shut up staff.