London: Police searched three professional football clubs - Premier League sides Newcastle and Portsmouth and Scottish club Rangers - along with the homes of two people on Monday as part of an investigation into corruption.
All three clubs confirmed they had been visited by City of London Police in the raid. Police did not name the individuals, however, and did not say what they were searching for.
Newcastle said, "the club itself is not the subject of the investigation." However, the Magpies said it would take action if it had been the victim of any criminal activity.
Scottish Premier League club Rangers was also raided, but did not disclose any details.
"Rangers football club was asked to cooperate with a City of London police investigation and have done so, extending every co-operation to police," a Rangers statement said.
Portsmouth spokesman Gary Double said the club "cooperated fully" with the police but did not comment further.
Police said it conducted its searches between 0730 and 0900 AM local time (0630 and 0800 GMT) "in connection with corruption in football and its impact on owners and shareholders."
City of London Police oversee what is known as the "Square Mile" - the business and financial center of Britain.
"These searches are part of the force's ongoing investigation into football corruption," a police statement said. "This investigation is a totally independent inquiry, it has not been influenced or informed by the Quest inquiry in any way."
The Quest inquiry was instigated by the Premier League in March 2006 after media allegations that managers, players or agents had been taking kickbacks from transfers.
Led by former London police chief John Stevens, that investigation spent two years examining 362 deals to see if anyone had received any illegal payments.
Last month, Stevens said there was no evidence of irregular payments to any club officials or players but listed 17 transfers that may have broken Premier League or FA rules.
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