Police arrest 7 more in English football

Seven players from English lower-league clubs have been arrested over alleged spot-fixing, with six others re-arrested, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Thursday.

The 13 men, aged between 18 and 30, were being interviewed at police stations across Britain as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and money laundering, the NCA said.

The original six suspects were arrested in December following an undercover investigation by British newspaper The Sun on Sunday. They were bailed to return on April 8.

The newspaper said that former Portsmouth player Sam Sodje had allegedly told an undercover reporter he could arrange for players to get booked during English second-tier matches in return for tens of thousands of pounds.

The 34-year-old also claimed that he could fix matches in the Premier League and was even prepared to rig games at this year's World Cup in Brazil, the newspaper reported.

Blackburn Rovers striker DJ Campbell was confirmed to be one of the six players who had been arrested in December, while Oldham Athletic pledged to conduct an investigation after one of their players was implicated.

In a statement, English football's governing body, the Football Association, said: "The FA has been made aware of developments in relation to an ongoing NCA investigation, including a number of further arrests.

"We are liaising with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time."