MILAN: Nine more Italian Serie A matches have come under match-fixing suspicion after the latest revelations to prosecutors following up last week’s new swathe of 17 arrests including five players.

Three of the games, all last season, were Lazio v Genoa (4-2), Lecce v Lazio (2-4) and Palermo v Bari (2-1). They were identified by former Cremonese and Piacenza defender Carlo Gervasoni and  one-time Portsmouth midfielder Alessandro Zamperini.

Gervasoni picked out the three matches but claimed that the attempt to fix one of the games had failed. He had already been suspended last august for five years after a previous match-fixing case.

In a separate development the former Ravenna goalkeeper Nicola Santoni has claimed that Gigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso and Fabio Cannavaro had been among top players who were also heavy gamblers. But, he said: “They have been investigated because they are World Cup-winners.”