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Rome - Italian tax and finance police suspect that national team captain Gianluigi Buffon may have placed illegal bets worth more than €1.5m, the ANSA news agency reported on Thursday.
Investigators have identified 14 bank cheques that Buffon paid between January and September 2010 to the owner of a betting shop in Parma.
The goalkeeper of Turin's Serie A champions Juventus has not been notified of being investigated, but the Italian football federation (FIGC) prohibits bets from players.
Officials reportedly talked to Buffon's lawyer, who appears to have told them that the sums were paid to a trusted person to handle the footballer's investments in Parma, where he played from 1995 to 2001.
Investigators in Naples, Bari and Cremona believe that dozens of players took bribes to fix games for punters.
Two other internationals have been linked to the Last Bet probe as Italy gears up for Euro 2012, which Poland and Ukraine co-host from June 8 to July 1.
Defender Domenico Criscito left the Azzurri's camp outside Florence on Monday after police notified him of being investigated.
Leonardo Bonucci is also believed to be involved, but remained with the squad as the FIGC said he has not received a notification.
