Scotland vs Nigeria investigated by police over match-fixing claims

Scotland's friendly against Nigeria in London on Wednesday night is being investigated by police after claims that attempts have been made to fix the match.

National Crime Agency officers, who investigate serious and organised crime, have tipped off world governing body FIFA over possible attempts to rig the fixture.

There is no suggestion of Gordon Strachan's Scotland players being involved in any potential scam. Neither is there a threat to Nigeria’s pre-World Cup warm up at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, where 10,000 Tartan Army footsoldiers are expected to be following their team.

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Friendly fire: Scotland, with (from left) Leigh Griffiths, Scott Brown, Charlie Mulgrew and Ikechi Anya in their ranks, trained at Harrlington on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday night's friendly against Nigeria

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On the ball: Gordon Strachan will look to continue his impressive run as Scotland boss

However, SFA head of security Peter McLaughlin has been in touch with National Crime Agency for the last three days after the agency – Britain’s equivalent of the FBI – received general intelligence concerning the London clash.

The SFA declined to comment but confirmed they are aware of the matter. Neither would the National Crime Agency offer a public comment.

But a spokesman said: 'The NCA will from time to time provide operational detail necessary for public reassurance purposes. It does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of specific operations or provide ongoing commentary on operational activity.'

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Putting in a shift: Coach Stuart McCall puts Steven Naismith through his paces ahead of the Nigeria match

Up and running: Scotland have put together some decent results under Strachan's guidance

The NCA take an interest in any intelligence from gambling commission and have told FIFA they have general information from the Asian betting markets suggesting a potential scam is afoot – and hope to stop the activities in their tracks by issuing an alert.

The issue is returning to the fore ahead of World Cup warm-up matches expected to be targetted by match fixers acting on behalf of illegal betting syndicates in the Far East.

There have been a series of arrests following suspected attempts to fix matches in the lower English football leagues in recent months. There have also been allegations of illicit activity in cricket.

FIFA have plans in place to combat the threat of match-fixing during the World Cup, which kicks off next month.

Ralf Mutschke, head of security with the governing body, told the Telegraph: 'FIFA, and in particular myself, has to make the presumption that the World Cup itself is under threat and implement the maximum protection for our competition as we can. We are trying to protect the World Cup from fixing and we have set up a pretty wide range of measures to do so.'