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 game between FC Kaiserslautern and FC Freiburg in November last year.
Jansen, who looked close to tears early in a news conference, showed clips of the matches in question as he sought to refute allegations that he manipulated games.
"I have never, ever tried to influence a match," Jansen said. "I have never been asked to influence a match. I have never done it in my life."
The vastly experienced Jansen has refereed 142 first division games and he said he had absolute faith in his colleagues from the top flight.
"I'm totally convinced that none of the 22 referees in the Bundesliga ever intentionally made a wrong call," Jansen said. "We are a team, a first class team. There are no ifs or buts about that.
"But referees make mistakes -- that's part of football. We are anything but error-free. I have to make an instant decision. I can't drink a cup of coffee and watch a replay five or six times."
The suspicions against Jansen arose after he was mentioned by Robert Hoyzer -- the Berlin-based referee who has admitted fixing matches -- in his statements to Berlin prosecutors.
Hoyzer has also implicated two other referees, the German Football Association (DFB) said on Thursday after studying a report from Berlin prosecutors now handling the case.
News that the investigation has taken in a first division match has added to the embarrassment for German soccer as the country prepares to host the 2006 World Cup.
FIFA, world soccer's governing body, has urged them to clear up the matter as soon as possible.
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