Man United's Ander Herrera could face jail

Manchester, England: Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera could face a ban from football – or even a jail term if found guilty – after being named as one of two Premier League stars implicated in a match-fixing probe.

The 25-year-old was named as part of a criminal complaint filed by Spanish anti-corruption authorities in Valencia – as first revealed by MirrorFootball last month.

41 players, managers and directors have been officially implicated in the case, brought forward by Spanish prosecutor Alejandro Luzón, and all face the possibility to one to six-year bans from football or even a jail sentence if found guilty.

And they include United’s £28million man Herrera, Swansea winger Jefferson Montero and Atletico Madrid captain Gabi.

Prosecutor Luzón has already quizzed 25 people over the claims before presenting his lawsuit at the courts in Valencia, where he is understood to have received crucial information from players involved.

Bank paperwork showing the transferral of funds amounting to nearly one million Euros have been presented as part of the evidence, with the prosecution alleging that this was used to pay Levante players to lose their final-day fixture with Zaragoza at the end of the 2010-11 season.

And United man Herrera is among those specifically named by prosecutor Luzón as allegedly having received the funds to pass on to Levante players.

“The president of Zaragoza, Agapito Iglesias, as well as the director Francisco Javier and Francisco José Checa agreed with sporting director, Antonio Prieto, coach Javier Aguirre and and the captains Gabi, Ponzio and Jorge López, representing and with the consent of the other players, to rig the game,” claimed Luzón.

“To this end it was established that 965,000 euros was paid to players of Levante in exchange for them allowing Zaragoza to win the game”.

He continued: "In executing this agreement, on 17 and 19 May 2011 the adviser of Zaragoza and financial director of the club, Francisco Javier Porquera, ordered the transfer from the account of Zaragoza the amounts of money to the accounts of Antonio Prieto, Javier Aguirre and these players: Lanzaro, Ander Herrera, Toni Doblas, Paulo da Silva, Braulio, Ponzio, Gabi, Jorge Lopez and Diogo".