Club says player took suspect win bonus

The captain of a lower league soccer team took money from an unidentified man shortly before a game at the centre of Germany's match-fixing scandal, his club said yesterday.

Dutchman Thijs Waterink accepted €10,000 shortly before SC Paderborn's German Cup tie against Hamburg SV on the understanding he could keep the money if his side won.

"I think this €10,000 could be just the tip of the iceberg," club president Wilfried Finke told a news conference, referring to Germany's biggest soccer scandal in more than 30 years.

The first round match on August 21 was refereed by Robert Hoyzer who admitted last week that he had fixed matches.

First division Hamburg took a 2-0 lead before losing 4-2 after Hoyzer sent off their striker and awarded regional side Paderborn two controversial penalties.

Finke said he was willing to hold a re-match with Hamburg, who have said the result must be declared void. However, the quarter-finals are only four weeks away.

Paderborn lost on penalties to Freiburg in the third round. Finke said there was no indication Waterink had sought to fix the result, just seek an additional bonus for victory. The club was also offering the team a far higher bonus for a win.

"I can only explain it as naivety to have accepted this money, possibly also in the particularly stressful situation directly before this Cup game," Finke said.

He added Waterink, whom the club have temporarily released, had not told his team-mates about the money before the match, paying them €500 each a day later.

German football association (DFB) chiefs met yesterday to discuss the deepening scandal. DFB co-president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder has called for limitations on gambling, such as betting on the timing of the first yellow card.

Munich-based bookmaker ODDSET gave details yesterday of unusually heavy betting, predominantly from Berlin, on two matches under Hoyzer's control. It said it had written to the DFB about the matter on August 23.

Berlin prosecutors say the DFB has notified them of a suspected link between Hoyzer and a Berlin bar frequented by Croatian gamblers. Finke said Waterink had described his contact as being of south European appearance.

Germany was rocked by a corruption scandal in 1971, with sanctions imposed on 53 players, two coaches, six officials and clubs Arminia Bielefeld and Kickers Offenbach.