UEFA has made a final decision on the referee who will officiate at the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands, after UEFA initially awarded the match to a convicted match-fixer.
UEFA announced on Sunday that 43-year-old Felix Zwayer will referee Wednesday night’s match in Dortmund despite a six-month ban after he was caught accepting a €300 (£253.82) bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer in a 2005 scandal.
Mail Sport contacted UEFA for comment, asking how, given his background, Zwayer could be chosen to officiate such a match. UEFA bosses reportedly conducted a review which has now been completed.
Mail Sport has learned that Zwayer will remain in charge of Wednesday’s semi-final and that UEFA continues to support their original appointment.
Zwayer was involved in a scandal surrounding second division club Hoyzer, who accepted bribes to influence several matches.
UEFA has decided to back referee Felix Zwayer (pictured) during the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands, despite the referee being a convicted match-fixer
England hope to secure a place in the final by beating the Netherlands in Dortmund
The Netherlands have found form in the knockout stages and will be a tough test
Zwayer, then a linesman, assisted him in a match and was paid €300 (£253.82) for it.
He was given a six-month suspension, but the decision was kept secret until the German newspaper Zeit broke the story years later.
Zeit’s investigation found that while Hoyzer, who was sentenced to two years and five months in prison, Zwayer’s apartment was searched and that he had behaved in a “very anti-sportsmanlike” manner.
The investigation also found that Zwayer failed to report match-fixing by Hoyzer “of which he was aware” and that he had accepted €300 (£253.82) from Hoyzer before a match between SV Wuppertal and Werder Bremen Amateure in May 2004, in order “to prevent critical situations for Wuppertaler SV as assistant referee”.
Munich criminal judge Rainer Koch was responsible for the case on behalf of the DFB. The DFB ruled that Zwayer had indeed accepted bribes, but that he had also contributed to the solution of the case and that there could be no question of deliberate errors.
The controversial referee also has a history with Jude Bellingham, having officiated a Bundesliga match between the Englishman’s former club Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in 2021.
Zwayer rejected Dortmund’s appeals for a penalty in the deciding match and later awarded Bayern a penalty after giving Mats Hummels a penalty for handball.
Robert Lewandowski converted the ball to give the visitors the win, which now puts them four points ahead of Dortmund, the leaders in the standings.
Zwayer has a history with England’s Jude Bellingham after the midfielder raised the referee’s controversial past after a match in 2021
The then 18-year-old Bellingham lashed out at Zwayer after Dortmund’s loss to Bayern Munich
Bayern went on to win the league, with Dortmund in second place. Bellingham, then 18, struck Zwayer after the final whistle.
“You can look at a lot of decisions in the game,” Bellingham said in a post-game TV interview.
‘You give a referee, who has done match-fixing before, the biggest match in Germany. What do you expect?’
Bellingham was subsequently fined €40,000 (£33,843) and even investigated by German police, while Zwayer was banned from refereeing for two months.
However, Dortmund continued to insist they were ‘100 percent’ behind their player.
Sporting director Michael Zorc said: ‘It was a very emotional situation, he was very disappointed and only mentioned known facts.’
Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzke added: ‘To make it clear: Jude did not spread lies, but what happened in the past.
‘That shouldn’t have happened, but I don’t see anything untrue in it.’
Despite his controversial past and history at Bellingham, Zwayer will still referee the match between England and the Netherlands, with the winner of the match facing either Spain or France in the final on Sunday.