The authorities have arrested seven people, including two Singaporeans, for taking illegal bets on European football worth up to RM2.25 million, police said today.

Mohamad Anuar Mohd Zain, deputy police chief in Johor said the seven members of a betting syndicate run by a 47-year-old Singaporean were detained on Saturday during a raid.

"When police raided the house on Saturday, syndicate members were busy inputing into the computer bets of a game being played by Manchester United against first division Millwall," Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

Mohamad said the betting ring also took bets, mainly from Singapore, in the on-going Italian and Spanish league football matches.

"The syndicate has connections with bookies in Singapore since 90 percent of those placing the bets are from the island republic," he said.

In April, Malaysian police busted two groups and arrested some 17 people including four Chinese from Hong Kong, for running a multi-million dollar illegal football gambling syndicate.

While football gambling is banned in Malaysia, betting on English Premier League matches is rife.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in March issued a fresh warning to all its associations, especially those in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam, to guard against illegal betting and match-fixing. - AFP