According to a report in Spiegel magazine on Friday, a new book by Canadian journalist Declan Hill contains allegations that Brazil's 3-0 win over Ghana, Hannover's 5-1 defeat to Kaiserslautern and Karlsruhe's 2-0 victory over Siegen were all manipulated by a well-known Malaysian, who has already been found guilty of match-fixing.

Both German associations have promised to investigate the issue thoroughly, but said they do not believe there are grounds for concern.

"The Football League and DFB have no reason to believe that the named games were manipulated," read a joint press release on Saturday.

"As soon as these suspicions arose, League president Dr Reinhard Rauball and DFB president Dr Theo Zwanziger emphasised that both associations will be seeking a thorough explanation and will punish any proven wrong-doer with all the means possible.

"The company Sportradar has been asked to analyse the named games on Saturday morning."

The associations have also promised to co-operate with any criminal investigation which may be launched following Hill's claims, which will be published in his book 'The Fix' in Germany on Tuesday.