Hoyzer claims scam began with referees talking in Berlin bar

The man accused of masterminding German football's match-fixing scandal testified Thursday that it was a referee who came up with the suggestion to rig games.

Ante Sapina, his brothers Milan and Filip, former referees Robert Hoyzer and Dominik Marks, and former player Steffen Karl are charged with fraud in fixing or seeking to rig 23 games, mostly in lower German divisions.

Hoyzer's admission in January that he accepted bribes from the three Croatian brothers to fix games produced the biggest corruption scandal in German football in more than 30 years and embarrassed the host country of the 2006 World Cup.

On the second day of the trial, Ante Sapina testified that he first met Hoyzer through a cousin.

After a night of drinking at the Berlin cafe he owns, Sapina said he was asked by Hoyzer, "What would it be worth to you if Paderborn won this weekend?"

Sapina testified he accepted the offer and gave Hoyzer 8,000 euros (US$9,600) to fix the third-division game between Paderborn and Chemnitz.

Hoyzer was in charge of the game and awarded a penalty to Paderborn. But he was forced to rescind his call at the intervention of a lineswoman and the game ended in a draw. Hoyzer had to give the money back to Sapina.

Sapina testified that he paid players to throw games and told the court of his frustration over his failure to rig a game in Turkey.

He described how he nurtured contacts with players by paying out unsolicited "motivation" bonuses.

In one case, Sapina said he paid Karl 10,000 euros to intentionally play under his ability. Karl's team, Chemnitz, lost 1-0 to Dynamo Dresden in April 2004.

But Sapina said he failed to collect more than 600,000 euros in winnings because his bet was linked to Ankaragucu losing to Galatasaray Istanbul in the Turkish league.

Sapina said he had sent his brother Milan to Ankara with 15,000 euros in bribery money, "but I only told him what he needed to know."

Two Ankara players were approached, but one was not picked for the game and the other refused to go along with the scheme.

"I was very frustrated that it didn't work out," Sapina said.

The prosecutors accuse Ante Sapina of running the betting syndicate from his cafe. He is the only defendant still in custody. His brothers have been released.

According to the 289-page charge sheet, the three Sapina brothers made at least 2 million euros by betting on fixed games.

Ante Sapina testified at the trial's opening on Tuesday that the charges against him were "in most part accurate." He is charged with 42 counts of fraud.

Hoyzer admitted receiving 67,000 euros from the brothers to fix German league games.