Bernd Stumpf
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Bernd Stumpf (* 16. June 1940 in Jena) is a football referee from Jena who served as a match official in the first division DDR-Oberliga of the former East Germany.
Stumpf was infamous for his role as the referee who manipulated the outcome of the 1986 championship match between Dynamo Berlin and Lokomotive Leipzig which ended in a 1:1 draw that handed Dynamo its eighth consecutive national title. At the time Dynamo was under the patronage of the Stasi, East Germany's state secret police force headed by Erich Mielke, and since the late 70s had benefited from unfair player transfers and questionable officiating.
The blatant nature of the manipulation led to nationwide protests by long-suffering fans. This led to the DFV (East German Football Federation) placing a lifetime ban on Stumpf, but no admission of complicity by Stumpf, the Stasi, or the football club, and no sanction against Dynamo – their title stood regardless of the protest.
It was eventually learned that Stumpf had worked for the Stasi under the cover name "Peter Richter" since the end of his army service in 1989. After German re-unification in 1990 he trained game officials for the Thüringer Fußballverband (Thuringia Football Federation) and became part of the safety committee of the Nordostdeutschen Fußballverbandes (Northeast German Football Federation). To this day he denies any role in manipulating matches in the DDR.
[edit] References
- Weinreich, Jens. "Büttel an der Pfeife (Büttel at the whistle)", Berliner Zeitung, 2005-03-24. Retrieved on February 2, 2007. (German)
- Leske, Hanns. "Foul von höchster Stelle {Foul at the highest level)", Der Tagesspiegel, 2006-03-26. Retrieved on February 2, 2007. (German)
