There are a lot of soccer fix stories.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- A German referee is suspected of fixing matches after betting on them and is under investigation by the country's soccer federation.
The referee is suspected of manipulating several German Cup and second-division matches, the soccer federation (DFB) said Saturday.
The referee, Robert Hoyzer, did not officiate first-division matches.
The DFB statement singled out one game officiated by Hoyzer, a 4-2 victory by third-division Paderborn over top-division Hamburger SV in the first round of the German Cup in August.
Hamburger SV led 2-0, but lost the match after Hoyzer awarded Paderborn two penalties and sent off Hamburger striker Emile Mpenza.
Hoyzer resigned from the referee organization late Friday and denied the allegations in a talk with the referee supervisor, Volker Roth, the DFB said.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - State prosecutors could open a criminal investigation into possible match fixing in German soccer after a referee was accused of manipulating results, officials said Monday.
One second-division match under scrutiny was not officiated by the referee, Robert Hoyzer, indicating the scandal could involve more people.
Theo Zwanziger, co-chairman of the German soccer federation (DFB), said that Hoyzer "influenced" that game but did not provide details.
"There must be more investigation," Zwanziger said.
Hoyzer is suspected of manipulating another game after betting on it — the German Cup match in August between top-division Hamburger SV and third-division Paderborn.
Paderborn won 4-2 after Hoyzer sent off a Hamburg player and awarded two questionable penalties to Paderborn. DFB rules prevent a replay.
Hoyzer is suspected of manipulating five other matches. No first-division games were involved.
DFB officials said it seemed unlikely that they would be able to take any action against Hoyzer, since he had resigned from the referees' organization last Friday, effectively leaving him outside DFB jurisdiction.
But Zwangziger and Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, the other DFB co-chairman, said they expected state prosecutors to take up the case.
"I assume that state prosecutors will start their own investigation," Mayer-Vorfelder said.
Zwanziger added: "It's a case for prosecutors, they have a lot more means to conduct an investigation."
The prosecutor's office in Braunschweig said it was studying the case to see if there were any grounds to open a formal investigation.
Zwanziger said the DFB first looked into the cup match because of Hoyzer's obvious mistakes and then stepped up the probe after bookmakers reported an unusually high number of bets placed on a Paderborn victory.
In his first public reaction to the accusations, Hoyzer denied any wrongdoing.
"I never bet on any games that I officiated," Hoyzer told Bild, Germany's mass-circulation newspaper.
Hoyzer, 26, also denied the allegations in a meeting with the referee supervisor, Volker Roth, on Friday, the DFB said.
The DFB board met Monday in an emergency session and decided to appoint a commission to study ways of preventing future manipulation.
One of the possible steps would be a general ban on betting on games by people actively involved in soccer.
Bayern Munich's general manager Uli Hoeness said his club would ban players, coaches and club officials from betting on games.
"This should be a fundamental rule and it should apply to other clubs as well," Hoeness said.
The allegations come one year before Germany hosts the World Cup finals.
The last major corruption scandal in Germany came in 1971, when 53 players from seven clubs received punishments, ranging from fines to lifetime bans. Two clubs, Arminia Bielefeld and Kickers Offenbach, were demoted, three club presidents were banned along with three other officials, and two coaches were suspended.
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