The German football federation on Tuesday suspended an assistant
referee during an investigation into whether he may have
participated in match-fixing.
Cetin Sevinc is being investigated by Bochum for possible
game manipulations, according to the federation.
"We were informed of the charges against Cetin Sevinc and all
of the relevant information from the Bochum prosecutor's office has
been made available to us," Rainer Koch, the DFB vice president in
charge of referees, said in a statement. "Of course, Mr. Sevinc is
innocent until proven guilty, but until the investigation is
completed, we won't be using him for both his personal protection
and the protection of the current competition."
The 27-year-old Sevinc was unable to be reached for comment.
Earlier this month, the DFB said that it saw no
irregularities in a second-division match that came under scrutiny
because of conspicuous betting patterns shortly before kickoff.
German football authorities looked into the possibility of
manipulation after an investigation disclosed 32 games that are
believed to have been fixed by a gang of bettors, all in the second
or lower divisions.
The prosecutors have not given any names of the people
suspected of the manipulation of 200 matches on behalf of an
international betting syndicate in what football officials say is
the biggest match-fixing scandal to hit Europe.
Prosecutors say the gang is suspected of bribing players,
coaches, referees and other officials to manipulate games so that
it could make money by betting on the fixed games. About 200 people
are suspected of being involved and the ring leaders are believed
to have made at least ?10 million ($15 million).
The prosecutor's office in Bochum, which specializes in
fighting organized crime, has declined to give details about its
ongoing investigation besides saying that 15 people have been
arrested in Germany and two in Switzerland, one of whom has been
released.
No one answered the phone Tuesday afternoon.
Sevinc officiated five times during the last season in
regional matches, and assisted five times in the second division.
He also worked during two first division and one third division
game. He was supposed to work this past weekend in a match between
SV Wilhelmshaven and VfL Wolfsburg II, but the game was called off
because of weather.
