#4 The 2005 Bundesliga match-fixing scandal
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German football came under huge scrutiny in 2005 when it was discovered that a second division referee had been match fixing and betting on matches in the 2nd Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the third-division Regionalliga.
Considered the biggest controversy in German football history, disgraced referee Robert Hoyzer was banned from football for life and received a two years prison sentence after it was discovered he had received payments to manipulate four football matches.
Ousted by four fellow referees who had their suspicions about Hoyzer, police arrested the referee who admitted his guilt and provided the names of several others involved. The surveillance of several suspects led to the arrest of a number of players and officials, including three Hertha Berlin players who were involved in an unlikely 3-2 loss to a third division side in the DFB-Pokal. In what was an extremely suspicious incident, one of the players managed to concede a crucial own goal in the 80th minute just four minutes after be subbed on. The players were all known associates of a Croatian gambling syndicate, which was connected to organised crime.
The scandal attracted a large amount of media attention, and while no Bundesliga clubs were involved, the unwanted attention came as an embarrassment for Germany, which was to hold the World Cup the very next year.
