REFFIN' NIGHTMARE
England fans furious after match-fixing-scandal ref slammed by Jude Bellingham chosen for Three Lions’ semi-final
Zwayer received a six-month ban for accepting a £250 bribe from another ref
ENGLAND fans are fuming after a match-fixing scandal ref slammed by Jude Bellingham was chosen for tomorrow’s Euros semi-final.
The Three Lions hero, 21, was fined for slating Felix Zwayer after his Borussia Dortmund side lost 3-2 to Bayern Munich in 2021.
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German Zwayer, banned for six months in 2005 for taking a bribe from another ref, will take charge of the Netherlands clash.
One fan blasted: “How can he be neutral, and what on earth are Uefa playing at?”
But Luke Shaw insisted the choice of official would not affect England’s attitude against the Netherlands.
The Manchester United star said: “We have to respect Uefa in whoever they decide to pick as the ref.
"That won’t change anything about us. We still just focus on the game in hand, not too much about what refs we’ve been given or this and that. For us, it won’t make any difference.”
Superstar Bellingham, then 18, was fined £34,000 for blasting Zwayer.
In 2005 Zwayer received a six-month ban for accepting a £250 bribe from another ref, Robert Hoyzer.
Bellingham fumed over a penalty not given to his side, while one was awarded to Bayern. He raged: “You can look at a lot of decisions in that game.
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“You give a referee that has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany.
“What do you expect?”
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Zwayer was in his second year on the officiating list in Germany’s second tier when he was implicated in 2005.
He and four other refs exposed Hoyzer’s crooked links to a Croatian gambling syndicate based in Berlin. Hoyzer was jailed and handed a life ban.
But Zwayer was also punished after admitting accepting a bribe of £250 from Hoyzer.
Zwayer’s shame was kept under wraps by the German authorities and four years later he was promoted to the Bundesliga then on to Fifa’s world refs list in 2012.
Tomorrow night he will come face-to-face again with England saviour Bellingham at Dortmund’s 62,000-seat BVB Stadium.
After their 2021 spat, Zwayer took a two-month leave of absence before returning to action.
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England fans last night hit out at his appointment by Uefa bosses.
John Millar, a 67-year-old retired council official from Bellingham’s home town of Stourbridge, West Mids, fumed: “This defies logic.
“How can a ref who has clashed with our best player over match fixing take charge against Holland.
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“Why is he even allowed to be a ref? How can he be totally neutral and what on earth are Uefa playing at?”
Prison service worker Richard Wilson, 63, from Teddington, South West London added: “With so many experienced and unbiased refs in the world, why choose this one?
“If he was suspended for links to match fixing, you have to ask why he was allowed to be a referee again in the first place. Why let him take charge of such a huge game involving a player fined for criticising him. It’s all going to go horribly wrong.”
Uefa were approached for comment over Zwayer’s selection.
Meanwhile Shaw, who is back from injury, defended boss Gareth Southgate who has been blasted over England’s negative style of play.
Shaw, 28, said: “I don’t really understand the criticism. What he’s done for the country, for us as players . . . he has really taken us to the next level.
“No manager has been as successful as him in what he has done recently.
“It’s now the semi-final and for me and us as players we love him. He’s exactly what we need.
“He always puts the players first and for that we’re able to go out on the pitch and try to be at our best.
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"Personally I’ve got a lot to thank him for because he showed a lot of faith and trust in picking me when he didn’t have to.
“Now I need to repay the faith that he showed in me.”
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