First German player arrested in rigging scandal

A German soccer player has been arrested on fraud and organised crime charges in connection with a widening match-fixing case.

Two referees have already been arrested in the worst scandal to hit German soccer in more than 30 years.

Berlin state prosecutors said yesterday that Steffen Karl, from third division Chemnitz FC, helped manipulate the results of a May 22, 2004, match between Paderborn and Chemnitz by giving away a penalty.

Referee Robert Hoyzer has already admitted he accepted bribes to rig the results of that game as well as others.

"Karl is suspected of deliberately committing a foul in his own penalty area in order to give referee Robert Hoyzer an opportunity to help influence the results of the match in favour of SC Paderborn," a spokesman said.

Paderborn won the match 4-0. Karl, 35, who played for Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin, is also suspected of offering Energie Cottbus keeper Georg Koch €20,000 to make deliberate mistakes in a second division match in May 2004.

Koch said he rejected the offer and did not report the incident until January after the scandal unfolded. Prosecutors said Koch then got a threatening phone call from someone known to Karl. Prosecutors said Karl was arrested for that reason.

"Because Steffen Karl has used dishonest methods to influence a witness with that phone call there is a danger of collusion and the necessity for his arrest," they said.

Hoyzer, 25, is at the heart of the scandal that has tarnished soccer in Germany, hosts of the 2006 World Cup finals. He was arrested in February but released two weeks later.