West Ham United and Newcastle United were both raided by the HMRC on Wednesday as part of an investigation into tax fraud.
The raids were also accompanied by the arrest of Newcastle's managing director Lee Charnley, who was released later in the day.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs carried out the raids at Newcastle's St James' Park and West Ham's Olympic Stadium in relation to "a suspected £5million Income Tax & National Insurance fraud."
A statement from HRMC read: "180 HMRC officers have been deployed across the UK and France today. Investigators have searched a number of premises in the North East and South East of England and arrested the men and also seized business records, financial records, computers and mobile phones.
"The French authorities are assisting the UK investigation, have made arrests and several locations have been searched in France.
"This criminal investigation sends a clear message that, whoever you are, if you commit tax fraud you can expect to face the consequences. As this is an ongoing investigation HMRC is unable to provide any further detail at this time."
Source: tribalfootball.com