Former Real Madrid star Raul Bravo is one of several high-profile figures from La Liga to have been arrested as part of a match-fixing investigation by Spanish authorities.

A number of players from past and present, along with club executives, have been detained by national police forces.

The arrests have been made across the top two tiers in Spain, with the Primera Division and Segunda Division forming part of an ongoing study.

A La Liga spokesman has said: ‘The police action follows complaints to the Spanish authorities about possible match-fixing in a May 2018 match in La Liga.’

They added: ‘La Liga is very active in combating match-fixing. It is important for us to have a fair competition.’

The Spanish police informed the EFE News Agency that an operation had begun in the country.

Arrests have been made as part of an investigation into allegations of match-fixing.

Those involved stand accused of having manipulated the outcome of certain games in order to benefit from sports betting markets.

EFE has reported: ‘Several soccer players from Spain’s first and second divisions have been arrested on suspicion of having taken part in match-fixing, national police sources told EFE on Tuesday.

‘The sources said raids had begun early in the morning in an operation against alleged soccer match-fixing that had been set up in a bid to obtain financial benefits from betting on the outcome of games.’

As things stand, seven arrests have been made.

Ex-Madrid defender Bravo, who took a brief loan spell at Leeds back in 2003, is among those to have been detained.

Borja Fernandez (Valladolid), Samu Saiz (Getafe), Inigo Lopez (Deportivo), Carlos Aranda (former player), Agustin Lasaosa (Huesca chairman) and Juan Carlos Galindo Lanuza (Huesca doctor) also form part of the police reaction.