According to a report from the Hamburger Morgenpost, it is believed that 17 matches in German football have been identified as possibly being fixed over the past two seasons.

As stated in the report, matches from the 3. Liga, two of the Regionalliga’s, as well as several other divisions, may have been influenced through online betting.

It is understood that the German Football Association is aware of the claims being made and are taking them very seriously.

However, there is doubt surrounding whether the results were directly influenced to favour either side.

Instead, the German Football Association are investigating dubious refereeing decisions that were made, as well as unusual mistakes from goalkeepers and defenders.

According to the report, information regarding the games has been sold on the dark web, with relevant chat histories detailing probable criminal deals.

Nevertheless, as for now, the games in question will not be specified, but these accusations are not new to the lower German leagues.

Last autumn, investigations were made by the Bochum public prosecutor’s office after a match between FSV Frankfurt and TSV Steinbach Haiger contained suspiciously high bets.

As of yet, it is unknown what the outcome of the investigation will be; however, the DFB partner responsible for monitoring sports betting has failed to find any irregularities in random samples thus far.

GGFN | Will Shopland