Two officials of Kidderpore Sporting Club have been arrested in connection with what police described as the tip of a match-fixing racket in the Kolkata Premier League, the top tier of the Calcutta Football League and one of the oldest in Asia.

Kolkata Police’s investigation found that some teams and players were allegedly deciding scorelines before matches, with betting rackets profiting from the arrangements.

Joint commissioner (crime) Rupesh Kumar said: “We received a complaint from the Indian Football Association (IFA) alleging that some team managers and players were fixing scores in the Kolkata Premier League and making huge money through betting. Based on the complaint, Kolkata Police initiated an inquiry, identified suspects, collected technical evidence, and arrested two people once substantial proof was gathered.”

A suo motu case was filed, and a formal FIR was drawn up at Bowbazar police station on Sunday. Joint commissioner Kumar said the arrested officials are Akash Das, 31, the team manager of Kidderpore Sporting Club, and Rahul Saha, alias Raj, the club’s media manager. Both were taken into custody from their homes in Belghoria.

During initial interrogations, the duo confessed to their involvement and named others allegedly connected to the racket. Police said they manipulated certain players to play according to pre-decided scorelines and shared information with betting rackets. Investigations are ongoing to identify all involved players.

Anirban Dutta, secretary of the IFA, which conducts the league, told a news conference: “We will ask our disciplinary committee to bar Kidderpore Sporting Club till their involvement in the fixing controversy is cleared... I would say this is just the tip of the iceberg. There could be more arrests in the future.”

Police are examining phone records, bank accounts, and overseas connections in Malaysia and Singapore linked to the accused. The arrested duo were produced in court on Monday and remanded in police custody.