Austrian police are to examine repoorts from Germany before deciding whether to launch a probe of Bregenz after a German magazine said match-fixing had spread to the neighbouring country.
Der Spiegel said that an accomplice of Robert Hoyzer, the referee at the centre of the German scandal, had “close contacts” with a goalkeeper at Bregenz.
“We have requested details of the investigation from the German security and justice authorities through Interpol,” said Elmar Marent, head of police in Austria’s Vorarlberg province.
“Then we will decide whether to launch an investigation,” Marent said, adding that the only details he had so far were those he had seen in media reports.
Hoyzer, who has admitted match-fixing, has implicated several referees in the scandal.
Der Spiegel said Hoyzer had accomplices who had “implemented their system of cheating” in other European leagues.
Bregenz said it was confident it would be cleared of any involvement in the growing scandal.
“The club is neither involved in any arrangements nor does it have any knowledge of any betting arrangements,” it said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The club’s president, Hans Grill, added: “I am completely convinced that neither our staff nor our players are involved in the affair.”
