[goldenHuddlestone]

German referees should be given civil servant status to help protect them from attacks by angry fans, the German football association's (DFB) top referee said on Wednesday.

Volker Roth, chairman of the DFB's referee committee, said giving referees in Germany civil servant status would mean stiffer punishments for anyone caught attacking a referee.

"I'd welcome a law like that in Germany," Roth told Sport-Bild newspaper, saying France could serve as a role model.

"A former German referee, Bernd Heynemann, is a member of parliament. That would be a good project for him."

Separately, the DFB announced on Wednesday it had fined Borussia Dortmund 4,000 euros ($5,437) for not protecting referees sufficiently and for unsportsmanlike conduct for incidents at a match in Dortmund against Energie Cottbus on March 4 and on March 10 in Bochum.

Several items were thrown at a referee's assistant in the 88th minute of the March 4 match, while plastic beer containers were thrown on to the pitch from the Dortmund fan section in the March 10 match.

Dortmund accepted the punishment from the DFB.