Two more men have been arrested in connection with alleged match-fixing in the Premiership. The men were detained at their London homes early yesterday by Scotland Yard detectives investigating claims that floodlights at a series of grounds were tampered with as part of a betting scam linked to Far Eastern gambling syndicates.

The latest detentions follow the arrest last month of four men, including a security guard, at Charlton Athletic's London stadium, The Valley, as the club prepared for a visit by Liverpool for a Premiership fixture.

The latest arrests by the Yard's Organised Crime Group were in connection with two matches abandoned after power failures two years ago. It is understood the men worked or still work at the grounds.

A Yard spokesman said: "The two men were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. One was detained in connection with a match between West Ham and Crystal Palace on November 3rd 1997 and the other in connection with a game between Wimbledon and Arsenal on December 22nd that year."

The first game, played at West Ham's Upton Park stadium, was called off after 47 minutes when the floodlights failed within seconds of the home side equalising after trailing their opponents 2-1.

The second match, at Wimbledon's Selhurst Park home, was goal-less when the floodlights failed in the second half.

Both men arrested yesterday were later released on police bail to return to Charing Cross police station on April 20th.

Club chairmen will today decide whether to introduce full-time referees to the Premiership next season. The move is being recommended by a working party of club representatives and the Premier League's own referees officer Philip Don. If the 20 Premiership chairmen, who are believed to have a range of views on the issue, give the go-ahead then a pilot scheme would take place from next season. This would involve the nine leading Premiership referees currently on the FIFA list being offered the chance to give up their day jobs and be paid for concentrating solely on officiating at the highest level.

Former Liverpool and Arsenal midfielder Michael Thomas was involved in a training ground bust-up with a Benfica team-mate on Tuesday. Portuguese newspapers yesterday published blow-by-blow photographs of the fight which allegedly began after a tough tackle by Thomas on Ukrainian Sergei Kandaurov.

The players scuffled until other players pulled them apart, but Benfica vice-president Jose Capristano described the spat as "a normal situation."

"It just shows that the players approach training sessions as if they were official games," said Capristano. He added that the clash was "unpleasant".

Benfica, managed by Graeme Souness, currently lie joint-second in the Portuguese first division, one point behind leaders Porto.