German police have arrested an undisclosed number of people suspected of fixing matches in major European soccer leagues.

The arrests in Germany and abroad came as part of an investigation into match-fixing supported by UEFA, according to a statement by the prosecutor's office in Bochum.

The investigation has been under way for nearly a year and targeted an international gang suspected of wide-ranging match-fixing.

The gang is suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and officials in "high-ranking European leagues" to manipulate games in order to make money on betting, the statement said Thursday.

It said raids were conducted in Germany and Europe on Thursday and a large number of arrests were made. No other details were given. A news conference is scheduled for Friday in Bochum.

UEFA said it was aware of Thursday's action, adding it had been "working closely with German authorities through its betting fraud detection system for monitoring irregular betting patterns."

The Berlin newspaper Morgenpost reported games in the Turkish top division were suspected of being manipulated and the probe by Bochum investigators targeted 100 people. The newspaper said five people were arrested Thursday.

UEFA said two months ago that it was investigating 40 cases of suspected match-fixing in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, mostly involving eastern European clubs. The matches under investigation were early qualifying games that took place over the last four seasons.

UEFA has beefed up its efforts to protect against illegal betting and match-fixing. The detection system monitors all top two divisions across Europe and domestic cup games.