Toppmoller points at naughty ref
AFP, Berlin
Former SV Hamburg manager Klaus Toppmoller has blamed referee Robert Hoyzer for his dismissal by the Bundesliga club insisting he knew right away there was something suspicious about the official. The German Football Federation (DFB) are investigating 25-year-old Hoyzer with regard to claims that he helped fix a cup match for financial gain. The match concerned took place on August 21 2004 and saw regional side SC Paderborn defeat Toppmoller's Hamburg 4-2. "The referee (Hoyzer) cost me my job as we were doing fine until the Paderborn game," raged Toppmoller in Bild am Sonntag. "After that it all went downhill." Hamburg sacked Toppmoller less than two months later and the former Bayer Leverkusen coach reacted angrily to the revelation that the official, who has since resigned from his post, is now being probed by the DFB. "I knew something was not right and I even told the referee's assistant at the time," revealed Toppmoller. "But what can you do? If you say there is cheating going on a ban awaits." Hoyzer awarded two dubious penalty kicks to Paderborn and sent off Hamburg's Belgian striker Emile Mpenza for complaining. "I thought football was clean but now we have to start questioning whether it is," added a bitter Toppmoller.
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