Ref criticised by Bellingham over past match-fixing links to officiate England semi-final (2024)

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A German referee who was previously criticised for his links to match-fixing by Jude Bellingham has been appointed to take charge of the European Championship semi-final between England and the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Felix Zwayer, 43, was given a six-month ban by his country’s football federation (DFB) in 2006, having worked as an assistant referee alongside Robert Hoyzer.

Zwayer was one of the officials who brought Hoyzer’s match-fixing plot to light and Hoyzer was banned for life. Zwayer has always denied being in on Hoyzer’s fix of Wuppertal’s game with Werder Bremen II in 2004 and a DFB investigation found no evidence that he had made decisions to alter the outcome of the game.

He was discovered to have accepted a €300 payment from Hoyzer, however, and was suspended for six months for failing to refuse the offer and then for failing to properly report it. The DFB’s ban of Zwayer was not public knowledge until a report by Die Zeit 10 years later.

In December 2021, Zwayer took a two-month break from officiating after Bellingham referenced the incident in a post-match interview following Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Zwayer had rejected Dortmund’s appeals for a penalty in the game before later giving Bayern a spot kick for a Mats Hummels’ handball. Robert Lewandowski converted the penalty and secured victory for Bayern, who at the time led second-place Dortmund by four points in the table.

“You give a referee, that has match fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?” Bellingham said after the game.

The England international was fined €40,000 by the German FA for referencing Zwayer’s ban.

Zwayer later defended his performance in an interview with German news outlet BILD and condemned Belligham’s comments as “disparaging and disrespectful”.

“The statement deliberately creates the false impression that I did not referee the match to the best of my ability,” he said.

He added: “Even if you put yourself in the subjective perspective, which is marked by emotion, his statement is far from professional or factual.”

Wednesday’s last-four tie in Dortmund will be 43-year-old Zwayer’s fourth match of the tournament, having overseen the group-stage games between Italy and Albania on June 15 and then between Portugal and Turkey on June 22. He was also in charge of the Netherlands’ three-goal victory over Romania in the round of 16.

Zwayer will be assisted by Stefan Lupp and Marco Achmuller, with Daniel Siebert the fourth official and Bastian Dankert as video assistant referee (VAR). Dankert will be assisted by Christian Dingert and Marco Fritz in the VAR room.

He took charge of the UEFA Nations League final between Spain and Italy last year. He is regularly used by UEFA across its club and national team competitions.

England progressed to the semi-final stage after defeating Switzerland in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in their quarter-final match.

Gareth Southgate’s side topped Group C after defeating Serbia and drawing against Denmark and Slovenia, before progressing past Slovakia in the last 16 after a 2-1 victory after extra time.

The Netherlands came third in Group D behind France and group winners Austria, but Ronald Koeman’s side defeated Romania 3-0 in the round-of-16 stage before coming from a goal down to defeat Turkey 2-1 in Saturday’s quarter-final tie.

England, who lost the final of Euro 2020 against Italy on penalties, are aiming to win their first European Championship title while the Netherlands are aiming to reach their first final since winning the competition in 1988.

The winners of the tie will face either France or Spain, who play on Tuesday, in Sunday’s final in Berlin.

Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic will take charge of the semi-final between France and Spain in Munich.

Colin Millar is a Staff Writer for The Athletic. Prior to joining The Athletic, Colin was European Football writer at Mirror Football. From Belfast, he is the author of The Frying Pan of Spain: Sevilla vs Real Betis, Spain’s Hottest Football Rivalry, and he can be found on Twitter/X: @Millar_Colin Follow Colin on Twitter @Millar_Colin