German referee Juergen Jansen denied on Friday any involvement in the country's match-fixing scandal and said a witch-hunt was making life intolerable for his family.
"My children can't go to school, they're being spat on and chased around," the 44-year-old Jansen said. "It's like a witch-hunt in the middle-ages."
Jansen, the only Bundesliga referee mentioned in connection with the case, is under suspicion of fixing two matches, including the Bundesliga clash between FC Kaiserslautern and FC Freiburg in November last year.
"I have never, ever tried to influence a match," Jansen said at a news conference. "I have never been asked to influence a match. I have never done it in my life."
The suspicions against Jansen arose after he was mentioned by Robert Hoyzer, the referee who has admitted fixing matches, in his statements to Berlin prosecutors.
News that the German Football Association (DFB) and prosecutors are investigating a first division match has added to the embarrassment for German soccer as the country prepares to host the 2006 World Cup.
