German authorities are investigating a possible match-fixing and betting-fraud syndicate operating in the country’s lower soccer leagues, following revelations by reporters at The Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper. The investigation was triggered by the discovery of message logs that detail information about fixed games being apparently offered for sale on the dark web.
These messages reportedly concerned 17 games and included details on how they were to be manipulated. Evidence suggests that the seller of this information found buyers, and transactions were made using bitcoin, according to The Morgenpost.
Police in the western states of Hesse and Saarland have confirmed that they are probing suspicious matches within their respective jurisdictions. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is also involved in the investigation, acting as a central coordinator.
The Hamburger Morgenpost, out of respect for ongoing investigations, chose not to publish the messages or identify the games involved. However, it reported that some games featured bizarre goals and controversial refereeing decisions, with one match comprising solely of own goals.
The suspected manipulated games span from the third tier to regionalized fifth-tier competitions, predominantly occurring in the evenings during the week. According to The Morgenpost, four teams are repeatedly mentioned in the logs.
A spokesperson for the German Football Association (DFB) stated that the organization had not yet seen concrete evidence of manipulated games but was coordinating with authorities and monitoring the situation through its integrity partner, Genius Sports.
Match-fixing is notably more prevalent in lower sports leagues due to less scrutiny and the lower income of players, making them theoretically more susceptible to corruption. While 3. Liga, the third tier, is professional and relatively well-paid, 4. Liga is semi-professional, and the fifth regional tiers (Oberliga) are amateur leagues where players are unpaid.
Although betting on amateur games is illegal in Germany, offshore websites have been known to offer markets on these matches. Recently, Oberliga Hamburg reported two instances where data scouts were caught at games illicitly relaying live information to offshore betting platforms.
The last major match-fixing scandal in German soccer was in 2005 when referee Robert Hoyzer confessed to fixing and betting on games. Hoyzer, who mainly officiated in Germany’s second tier, admitted to taking bribes from a gambling syndicate linked to organized crime. He was banned for life from soccer and later sentenced to two years and five months in prison.
