German referee says colleagues involved in match-rigging

German referee Robert Hoyzer, who has admitted match-fixing, said yesterday he had first-hand experience of wrongdoing by other referees implicated in the scandal.

Hoyzer is now co-operating with prosecutors after admitting he fixed seven matches last year.

"I experienced a lot first-hand but also heard a lot from the key people involved," Hoyzer told Kicker in reply to a question about the basis of his allegations against other refs.

"I would really like to be able to say: 'It was just me and now you can get back to normal with your whole caboodle'," he added.

Hoyzer said he could not provide further details about the information at this point because of pending legal action.

Hoyzer stands at the heart of Germany's biggest sports betting scandal in 30 years, which has tarnished the country's image in the year before it hosts the World Cup.

He admitted fixing several matches from the German Cup and second division.

Hoyzer told the magazine he was saddened that the children of a former colleague he has implicated were being victimised at school.

"It hurts when I hear that children are being spat upon," said Hoyzer, 25, who is staying at an undisclosed location. "But I will nevertheless continue giving prosecutors and my lawyers all the information that I have."

Top referee Juergen Jansen, implicated by Hoyzer, firmly denied any involvement in the scandal on Friday and said a media witch-hunt was making life intolerable for his family. Jansen said his children were being victimised at school.

Jansen, the only Bundesliga referee mentioned in connection with the case, is suspected of fixing two last year. Hoyzer will be questioned by the FA this week.

Separately, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported yesterday that prosecutors were also examining whether there were betting irregularities in professional soccer leagues in Austria and Greece.