Chinese police have detained at least four people on suspicion of match-fixing and gambling in a nationwide crackdown on soccer corruption.

The Ministry of Public Security told Xinhua on Wednesday in the capital city of Liaoning province that they had detained a number of former players, soccer officials and club officials, including Wang Xin, Wang Po, Ding Zhe and Yang Xu, on suspicion of "manipulating domestic soccer matches through commercial bribery."

Some of them were also suspected of gambling through foreign websites, said the Ministry, which heads up the unprecedented large-scale investigation.