Burkina Faso coach Paul Put, who was suspended in Belgium over match-fixing claims, on Tuesday said that rigging games was more widespread than football realised, with top players implicated in the practice.

The Belgian told reporters on the eve of his side's Africa Cup of Nations semi-final that he was not surprised to hear about revelations on Monday that European police had unearthed a criminal network targeting hundreds of matches.

"Match-fixing has always existed in football," said Put, who was suspended for three years after being implicated in a rigging scandal while coach of Belgian first division side Lierse.

"For sure football has a bigger problem than it realises. Let's be honest, if it happens at Champions League level it's widespread but it's not a new thing. A lot of big international players are involved in match fixing.

"But I think FIFA are trying hard to tackle it, it will be difficult but I think you can get rid of it. Look at what cycling is doing with more and more effective doping controls so, yes, I think it is possible to stop it in football."

Put's rare disclosure about his own brush with corruption which led him to leave Belgium for Africa, said he had been caught up in an epidemic that had spread across the national game.