The match fixing scandal has tainted 32 matches in the Bundesliga lower divisions. The investigation into it have been widened the dragnet. Former and current players of VfL Osnabruck have come under suspicion.
Thomas Cichon, former captain of Bundesliga third division side VfL Osnabruck who now plays for Moroka Swallows in South Africa, is alleged to have accepted an undisclosed amount of money to lose to Augsburg's (17 April 2009) by three goals. He is also said to have accepted 5000 euros to lose to Nuremburg (13 May 2009) by a margin of two goals.
Also falling under suspicion are Thomas Reichenberger, a striker for Osnabruck who is said to have accepted 25,000 euros for the planned defeat against Nuremburg.
Marcel Schuon, another former player who now plays for SV Sandhausen also accepted 25,000 euros for the same game against Nuremburg. He went missing for three days and was said to have been arrested at a pub.
Due to these losses VfL Osnabruck was relegated to the third division in 2009.
A DFB referee officiating the Regional South games has also been implicated in the betting scandal, his identity as yet unknown.
This scandal in terms of the amounts of money, number of matches fixed, and countries involved dwarfs the Robert Hoyzer led Bundesliga scandal in 2005. Hoyzer was sentenced to two years and five months in jail in December 2006.
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