GERMANY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - German prosecutor urges for overturning of guilty verdict issued to referee Robert Hoyzer for rigging matches for payments

Record ID: 784359

  • Title: GERMANY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - German prosecutor urges for overturning of guilty verdict issued to referee Robert Hoyzer for rigging matches for payments
  • Date: 29th November 2006
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (NOVEMBER 15, 2005) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BERLIN DISTRICT COURT VARIOUS OF HOYZER ENTERING THE COURTHOUSE HOYZER ENTERING THE COURTROOM SURROUNDED BY PRESS
  • Embargoed: 14th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3H5KSZQFXVOQ8SNLQMEW5RPQA
  • Story Text: A 2005 conviction against German referee Robert Hoyzer for rigging matches for payments should be overturned because the deception did not break the law in a technical legal sense, a federal prosecutor said on Tuesday (November 28).
    Chief state prosecutor Hartmut Schneider said at the start of an appeals hearing at federal court in Leipzig that it should acquit Hoyzer, who a year ago was found guilty of rigging games as part of a 2 million euro ($2.6 million) betting fraud.
    "That the behaviour which is being judged today is worthy of punishment, is without a doubt, in other words, every one of us says, that can not be allowed to happen, it should be punished, and I agree with that," Schneider said. "But it is another question as to whether we can punish it under the present laws, or whether we need another element of a crime (corpus delicti), or different rules of conduct for betting agencies, to prevent such manipulation. I am of the opinion that we can't punish it at present, even though there is a need for it, and so I have come to the result that the defendant should be acquitted."
    The court will also hear arguments from Hoyzer's defence attorney before making any ruling. The prosecutor's unexpected plea for acquittal, citing a precedent set in a 1961 horse-betting case, makes it less likely he will go to jail.
    Defence lawyer Andreas Bartholomae also said that they had technical legal issues with the verdict. He said the betting agencies themselves had not lost out due to the betting scandal, if anything they had profited from it.
    "A loss is usually a necessary element for a crime to be charged a deception," Bartholomae said. "That is one of the things which in our opinion is missing, so we think that there is a serious chance that there will be an acquittal. We are aware though, that public opinion will then be outraged."
    Hoyzer, who admitted fixing matches in the biggest match-rigging scandal to hit Germany in more than 30 years and embarrassed Germany ahead of the World Cup, had challenged the 2005 verdict and jail sentence of 2 years and 5 months.
    Hoyzer was found guilty by a Berlin court of rigging games in return for payment from Ante Sapina, a Croatian ringleader. He was convicted on six counts of accessory to fraud, and sentenced to 2 years and 11 months.
    Hoyzer's jail term came as a shock as prosecutors took his confession into account and only sought a suspended sentence. The appeal by the prosecutor also increased the likelihood that Sapina will not go to jail.
    In the most notorious match-rigging incident, Hoyzer awarded regional league side Paderborn two penalties to help them come from two goals down to beat first division Hamburg SV in round one of the German Cup. He also sent off Hamburg's Emile Mpenza.
    Ante Sapina made more than 750,000 euros from Paderborn's 4-2 victory, according to the indictment.
    Hoyzer's overall reward was 67,000 euros and an expensive new television set for the nine matches he fixed or tried to fix.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register