In the wake of claims made in Friday morning's Independent newspaper, Arsene Wenger has unequivocally called for any player found guilty of match-fixing to be banned from football for life.

The paper reports that a former Premier League player had accepted a bribe of £50,000 in order to change the course of a match that took place within the past two seasons.

The article states that the bribe came from a bookmaker who promised to write off the player's gambling debts if he got himself sent off and persuaded three of his team-mates to get booked in a specific game.

"It is surprising news and very bad news and I am convinced that if it is proven they should be banned for life, with no hearing," he said.

The Frenchman continued on Setanta Sports News: "I believe that the most important thing is that our game is clean. I can't believe it has happened in The Premier League but if it has, there is no excuse.

"It's not down to human nature - everyone has to stand up for their own acts and take responsibility for what he is doing.

"If one player has done that you have 99.9 percent of players who have never done it. But you have to convict the one player who has done that."