Police in Germany have confirmed that they are investigating 17 football matches in the country's lower leagues on suspicion of manipulation in connection with sports betting platforms.

Authorities in the western states of Hesse and Saarland said they were looking into "conspicuous" matches in their jurisdictions, while Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said it was "involved in the process in its role as central coordinator."

The investigations follow initial reporting by the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper this weekend, according to which matches from Germany's professional third division (3. Liga), semi-professional fourth tier (Regionallliga) and amateur fifth tier (Oberliga) may have been manipulated for gambling purposes since November 2022.

What exactly is being investigated?

In the 17 games in question, authorities said they are looking into suspicious refereeing decisions and unusual behavior from goalkeepers and defenders.

Discussions among the manipulators are said to have taken place digitally on the dark web, with chat protocols reportedly revealing that illegally accrued winnings were to be paid in crypto currencies such as Bitcoin.

The Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper reported on two incidents in the local fifth-tier Oberliga Hamburg last week where so-called data scouts were discovered at games relaying live information to betting platforms on which it was no longer possible to bet on the games once the men had been ordered to leave.

The German Football Association (DFB) said it had no concrete evidence but was in contact with the authorities as well as its own monitoring partner Genius Sports. "Further comment is not possible due to the ongoing investigations," it said.

Betting on amateur sport is illegal in Germany, but the relevant legislation does not extend to foreign betting firms.

Late last year, public prosecutors opened an investigation into an unusually high number of bets placed on a fourth-tier match involving FSV Frankfurt following a tip-off from a betting company.

According to Hannes Beuck, founder of Gamesright, a company which supports consumers who have lost money in online casinos, the potential for match-fixing in amateur sport is higher because players and referees earn less money, if any.

Memories of the Hoyzer match-fixing scandal

The new investigations revive memories of Germany's infamous 2005 match-fixing scandal when former referee Robert Hoyzer was found to have manipulated matches in the second division (Bundesliga 2), German Cup and Regionalliga in cooperation with a Croatian gambling mafia. Hoyzer was sentenced to two years and five months in jail.

Also implicated in the scandal was referee Felix Zwayer who was banned for six months for not immediately reporting a €300 ($333) bribe from Hoyzer in 2004. Zwayer denies having accepted the money and is still a senior DFB and UEFA referee, although the affair continues to dog him to this day.

In December 2021, former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham raged after a defeat to Bayern Munich which Zwayer had officiated: "You give the biggest match in Germany to a referee who has already fixed a game, what do you expect?"

Bellingham and Zwayer crossed paths again in Germany this summer when Zwayer was appointed to referee England's Euro 2024 semifinal against the Netherlands in Dortmund, ahead of which Bellingham's comments and the 2005 match-fixing scandal attracted international attention.

During the game, Zwayer awarded England a penalty with the help of the video assistant referee which, although debatable, didn't detract from his performance.

mf/nm (dpa, AP)