A second referee "no doubt" fixed a soccer game in the scandal that has rocked Germany a little more than a year before it hosts the World Cup, a sports court said yesterday.
Referee Dominick Marks was handed $4,800 in his kitchen to fix the game between amateur clubs, the German Soccer Federation's sports court said.
Until now, star witness and referee Robert Hoyzer, who admitted to fixing or attempting to fix seven matches, had only accused three other referees in his testimony to police.
The trio had strongly denied manipulating games to aid three Croatian brothers, whose betting scams are now suspected of extending beyond Germany to a European UEFA Cup game in Greece.
The German federation said the game in question was an Aug. 11 regional league contest between the amateur teams of Bundesliga clubs Hertha Berlin and Arminia Bielefeld.
Dutch Legend Michels Dies
Rinus Michels, who helped bring a fluid, attacking style to Dutch soccer and coached his country to its only international title in the 1988 European Championship, died at age 77.
Michels died in a hospital in Aalst, Belgium, following complications from heart surgery two weeks ago, the Dutch soccer federation said.
Michels, known as "the General" for his strict discipline and tactical insights, regarded the 1988 triumph as a pivotal point in his life.
"I think that that moment and the explosion that enveloped me -- that was one of the most beautiful moments," Michels said recently on Dutch television.
He also coached the team at the 1974 World Cup, where the Dutch lost to West Germany in the final. Dutch fans widely viewed a semifinal win over Germany at Euro '88 as revenge for the earlier World Cup loss -- and the occupation of World War II.
"I think we're liberated now," he said after the victory.
Dutch teams are to wear black armbands in upcoming games, and flags were at half-staff at stadiums.
Marco van Basten, a striker on the 1988 championship team and current coach of the Dutch national team, called Michels the "father of Dutch soccer."
Michels, who also coached in the North American Soccer League, retired from the national team for the third time after Euro '92.
He is credited with helping create the flowing "total football" style in the 1960s and '70s with players such as Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens.
Wembley Opening Set
The first game at the new Wembley Stadium in London will be the FA Cup final on May 13, 2006. The English Football Association announced the date yesterday, moving the game a week earlier to give players on England's national team a four-week break before the start of the World Cup in Germany. The Premier League will also end a week earlier.
England Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has pushed for the four-week pause. England reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup and last year's European Championship, but Eriksson said the team would have done better with more rest.
