04 March 2005	Friday	22 Muharram 1426

BERLIN, March 3: The German Football Association (DFB) ordered a regional league game be replayed on Thursday as it believes a referee implicated in Germany's match-fixing scandal sought to influence the result.

Hertha Berlin Amateurs beat Arminia Bielefeld amateurs 2-1 on Augt 11, 2004, under the control of Dominik Marks, a referee since provisionally suspended by the DFB over match-fixing allegations.

Germany has been rocked by revelations from 25-year-old referee Robert Hoyzer, who has admitted fixing games for money from a gambling gang and has implicated several other German referees.

The DFB's sporting tribunal accepted Bielefeld's appeal, saying it believed Marks had met Hoyzer and gamblers before the game, although the subsequent match-fixing had failed. The DFB has ordered a replay of the second division match between LR Ahlen and Wacker Burghausen on Octr 22. Ahlen won 1-0, a result Hoyzer fixed.

The ruling body also awarded two million euros compensation, including the hosting of a friendly international, to Bundesliga club Hamburg SV after Hoyzer engineered their exit from the German Cup in September.

The DFB has a further six matches to consider, including Kaiserlautern's 3-0 victory over Freiburg in the Bundesliga last November and five second division games.

The DFB's tribunal said it regretted the fact that Marks had chosen not to give evidence. In a statement, Marks protested his innocence and said he had never been involved in match-fixing. -Agencies