2005 German football match-fixing scandal

In early 2005, German football was overshadowed by the discovery of a €2 million match fixing scandal centred on second division referee Robert Hoyzer, who confessed to fixing and betting on matches in the 2. Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, and the then third division Regionalliga. The scandal has been described as the largest controversy in German football since the Bundesliga scandal of the early 1970s, as numerous players, coaches and officials have been accused of involvement with an organised crime group in the scheme, which came on the eve of Germany playing host to the 2006 World Cup.