In Germany, scandals related to match-fixing are still not quieting down. This time, as reported by the local press, the scandal reached the highest levels of the country's football - the police interested in this hypothesis have already questioned the goalkeeper of the Munich team and the German national team, Bastian Schweinsteiger.
According to the media reports, the 21-year-old German along with two players from Munich's "TSV 1860" club - Quido Lanzaatas and Paul Agostino - are suspected of being involved in betting fraud, attempting to influence the results of certain matches. It is also reported that this business brought substantial financial profit to at least one of the parties involved.
However, the Bavarian prosecutors were not willing to comment on this issue: "We are currently evaluating the information collected. We will definitely not mention any names." More information should be released later.
Last week, the Frankfurt police detained 4 individuals suspected of match-fixing in the second and third German leagues. Nevertheless, as it turned out now, the extent of this crime is much greater. This scandal is also another blow to Germany as it prepares for the upcoming World Cup this summer, as the country has faced similar problems before and is now under the watchful eye of football enthusiasts.
However, the president of the World Cup organizing committee, Franz Beckenbauer, stated that he cannot believe that national team players are involved in this scandal: "I can't imagine it. These footballers should earn enough to avoid such scandals."
Furthermore, Bastian Schweinsteiger strongly denied this information and, with the support of the club, is considering the possibility of taking certain media outlets to court for defamation.