German FA drops demand for Hoyzer fine

The German FA (DFB) will not fine the referee at the centre of the country's match-fixing scandal although he could still face a lifetime ban.

The DFB said yesterday its control committee had sought to make Robert Hoyzer pay €50,000 ($65,330) but dropped its demand after the chairman of the DFB's sport tribunal, Rainer Hoch, indicated he was unwilling to impose a fine.

Hoch had previously signalled that a lifetime ban was a sufficiently harsh punishment. The DFB accuses Hoyzer of having fixed or sought to fix five matches, including Bundesliga club Hamburg SV's loss to third division SC Paderborn in the first round of the German Cup. The other four matches were in Germany's second division.

Berlin prosecutors are investigating 25 people, including three other referees and 14 players, who are suspected of having manipulated at least 10 matches in 2004. Hoyzer has confessed to taking bribes of €67,000 from betting gangs to rig matches.