PARIS: French police have said that no suspicions have been aroused over the cup-tie between lower-league La Cayolle from Marseille and Corsica’s Ile-Rousse despite an alert over betting patterns writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

The online betting watchdog, ARJEL, registered “totally unusual betting” ahead of the tie and notified both the football authorities and police.

Fifth-league Ile-Rousse won the tie 2-0 after heavy betting in favour of a victory for eighth-level La Cayolle.

ARJEL said that more than €100,000 had been laid in bets on the game which was “an enormous sum” for a tie between clubs virtually unknown beyond their localities.

A police source indicated that “at the moment nothing unusual has been noted which could lead to a judicial inquiry.”

** Nine people have been arrested over alleged match-fixing in Hong Kong.

The arrested were six players, a club official, a sponsor representative and a “corrupt associate” according to police.

Last month, another top division Tuen Mun were the focus of controversy after a defender headed into his own net to ‘gift’ opponents Yokohama Football Club a 2-1 win in stoppage time.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement: “Nine persons, including professional football players, were arrested for alleged bribery in rigging the results of football matches involving a local football club.

“Inquiries revealed that the sponsor’s representative and the executive officer might have offered advantages to the players of the football club as rewards for their participation in rigging football match results.”