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Nine ex-Bari players in match-fixing probe

Eight of Masiello's team-mates from Bari last season were also being investigated by police over the possible manipulation of matches.

"Around one dozen people are under investigation and nine of these are ex-players of the Bari team, involved in the alleged fixing of nine matches in last season's Serie A championship," the Italian football federation (FIGC) said in a the statement.

Police said two of Masiello's friends who bet on match results had also been arrested. The three men are detained in prison in the southern city of Bari.

They were all involved in match fixing generating "extremely high winnings", said the city's chief prosecutor Antonio Laudati.

Bari's sporting director Guido Angelozzi said the club had nothing to do with any manipulation of the result.

"We thought it was a normal match," he told SkyTG24 television. "The club is a damaged party in this. It gained no advantage from this at all."

Former Atalanta captain and Italy midfielder Cristiano Doni was banned for three-and-a-half years in August for his part in the 'Calcioscommesse' match-fixing and betting scandal involving Serie B matches last season.