Men charged with match-fixing in Germany

EIGHT men were yesterday charged with fraud over allegations that they tried to bribe players in Germany's lower divisions and Austria's top league to fix matches, writes Mark Langdon.

A 45-year-old unnamed Asian man and his Lebanese accomplice are accused of being the ringleaders in trying to fix ten games on behalf of Asian punters.

A former Serbian player and coach, two African players and, a Portuguese and German man complete the group. None of their names have been released.

The two ringleaders, who have been under arrest since March, allegedly attempted to fix games in 2005. An African third-division player who was approached alerted the authorities.

Last November, in a separate match-fixing problem, a Berlin court sentenced former arbiter Robert Hoyzer to two years and five months in prison. He was found guilty of being a part of a ring that fixed or attempted to rig 23 games. Hoyzer confessed to fixing and betting on matches in the Bundesliga 2, the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) and the third division Regionalliga.

Three Croatian brothers who were said to have orchestrated the scheme received prison sentences ranging from 12-35 months. A number of other officials/players were also fined, jailed or banned for their roles in this plot.

It appears that no 1st division Bundesliga matches were involved in the scandal. If one were to look back even further, the Bundesliga was hit by a match-fixing scandal in 1971.

A number of other leagues around the globe have also been tarnished in recent times and at least the fact that we know of the corruption is a good sign in that something is being done about it. But is it enough?