Hoyzer jailed for match-fixing

A German referee was today convicted of fraud and sentenced to two years and five months in prison for his part in one of the country's biggest ever match-fixing scandals.

Robert Hoyzer and another official, Dominik Marks, were found guilty of fixing games in return for payment from a Croatian man, Ante Sapina.

Marks received an 18-month suspended sentence, while Croatian Sapina, an obsessive gambler who placed large sums on the referees' matches, was handed a jail term of two years and 11 months. Sapina's brothers, Milan and Filip, were also given suspended sentences - Milan for 16 months and Filip for 12 months.

Despite the prosecution recommending a suspended two-year sentence for Hoyzer, judge Gerti Kramer sent the former referee to prison, saying his crimes were not juvenile deeds but "adult acts" of serious weight and that Sapina was clearly behind the scheme. "He [Sapina] alone chose when, if and how the betting would take place," she told the court.

Hoyzer had admitted manipulating matches and was banned for life by the German FA in April, after the scandal was uncovered at the start of the year. A criminal inquiry arose after internet betting firm Oddset reported unusual gambling patterns in a cup match between Paderborn and Hamburg last August, a game officiated by Hoyzer.

He awarded Paderborn, a regional league side, two penalties and sent off Hamburg's Emile Mpenza as the Bundesliga side were knocked out. Sapina, according to the indictment, won more than £500,000 from Paderborn's 4-2 victory. He also profited to the tune of £590,000 on another second division game between Karlsruher and MSV Duisburg, which Duisburg won 3-0 with Marks refereeing.

Hoyzer's overall reward was £45,000 and a new television set for the nine matches he admitted to fixing or trying to fix, while Marks was accused of amassing £24,000 for his involvement in four games.

Former Borussia Dortmund player Steffen Karl is still being tried separately in connection with the match-rigging scam. His case, in which he denies ever underperforming or seeking to lose a game, continues next week.