Spanish Police Arrest 15 People Connected to Tennis Match-Fixing Gang

Police in Spain have investigated 83 people and arrested 15 in connection to match-fixing in tennis, according to La Guardia Civil.

The Spanish Civil Guard made a statement on the situation (translation via Laura Wagner of Deadspin):

"A group of Armenian individuals used a professional player who served as the link between them and the other members of the network. Once the bribe had been paid, the Armenians went to the match venues to use their imposing muscle to make sure that the player kept their end of the deal. They then gave the order for bets to be laid both nationally and internationally."

Investigations into a Spanish tennis player led to the Armenian criminal enterprise.

Spanish tennis player Marc Fornell-Mestres, ranked 1,007th in the world, was among those arrested, according to BBC Sport. The 36-year-old had also been suspended by the Tennis Integrity Unit last month.

There were 28 total professional players investigated as part of the operation, with one of them competing in the most recent U.S. Open.

Although no names were listed in the statement and the nationalities of all the players involved are unknown, there were only 11 Spanish competitors in the 128-person men's field at the U.S. Open field. There were four more in the women's field.

Police are also looking into possible links between the recent arrests and the 13 arrests in Belgium which featured low-level tennis match-fixing, per the Associated Press (via USA Today).