A referee on Thursday admitted to fixing matches in Germany's lower divisions and German Cup competition and said he was ready to cooperate with prosecutors to clear up the country's biggest soccer corruption scandal in more than 30 years.
"The accusations made against me in the public are true," the referee, Robert Hoyzer, said in a statement distributed by his lawyer.
"I regret my behavior profoundly and I excuse myself to the German soccer federation, my referee colleagues and all soccer fans," Hoyzer said.
Volker Roth, the federation's referees supervisor, said Hoyzer's actions were "inexcusable."
"We are shocked, we never thought something like this was possible. But there is nothing you can do against criminal energy," Roth said after an emergency meeting with 44 first- and second-division referees.
Rudi Assauer, general manager of first-division Schalke, said the affair was "a punch in the face" of German soccer.
"This case is exactly what should not be happening one year before the World Cup," Assauer said. Germany will stage the 2006 World Cup.
In an attempt to prevent future manipulation, the German soccer federation (DFB) said it would announce referee assignments two days before games, instead of 10.
It also will expand its system of monitoring games and referee performances, the DFB said.
Because of legal formalities, there was no immediate ban on betting by referees. The 44 referees who attended the DFB's emergency meeting all gave assurances that they had never placed bets and would not do so in the future.
The federation also plans to use an "early warning system" connected to bookmakers to detect unusual betting patterns.
Horst Hilpert, the head of DFB's control committee conducting the probe, said Hoyzer's admission "confirms fully" what the investigation has uncovered so far -- "that Robert Hoyzer is suspected of profiting from high sums bet on games officiated by him."
His committee was questioning 14 more match officials, Hilpert said.
Hilpert said he expected Hoyzer to be questioned soon by state prosecutors before another hearing by the DFB.
"It's an isolated case, we don't see another black sheep," he said.
The DFB had accused Hoyzer of manipulating at least five games in lower divisions and German Cup competition after betting on them. He initially denied the charges. No top-division games were involved.
Hoyzer said he had given a "comprehensive, no-holds-barred account of everything he knew about the case and persons involved it in" to his lawyer, Stephan Holthoff-Pfoertner.
He did not say who else was involved.
On the N24 channel, Hoyzer said other people connected to soccer were involved and confirmed that he had received a five-digit sum for fixing matches.
The magazine Stern reported Wednesday that Hoyzer had regular contact with organized criminals from Croatia involved in betting.
The DFB said it had also heard of such reports but had no means of verifying them.
On Wednesday, the DFB filed charges against Hoyzer with Berlin prosecutors, who are examining the case.
Hoyzer, 25, said he was willing to testify before state prosecutors and the DFB.
"If he does, it would be helpful," said Michael Grunwald, spokesman for Berlin's state prosecutor's office.
The DFB's charges specified that Hoyzer had contacts to bettors in a Berlin bar "mostly visited by Croats," Grunwald said.
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