The referee for England’s European Championship semi-final against Holland served a six-month ban for his role in a match-fixing scandal — and was once accused of being corrupt by Jude Bellingham.
The Times understands that Uefa has reviewed the decision to appoint Felix Zwayer as referee for the match in Dortmund on Wednesday night and are standing by the German official, confident that his integrity is not in question. Zwayer, 43, was found to have accepted a €300 bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer in 2005.
Bellingham was investigated by German police after a criminal complaint was filed against him for his comments following Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in December 2021. Zwayer took a two-month break from officiating after Bellingham’s comments, for which he was fined €40,000 by the German football authorities.
The Dortmund players were furious with the referee for a number of decisions, not least a penalty which was awarded after Mats Hummels was deemed to have handled the ball with the scores level at 2-2.
“Well for me it wasn’t [a penalty] you know,” Bellingham told Viaplay Football after the match. “He [Hummels] is not even looking at the ball and he’s fighting to get it.
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“It hits him and I don’t even think he’s looking at the ball but you know you can look at a lot of the decisions in the game.
“You give a referee that has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany — what do you expect?”
Zwayer’s involvement in the 2005 match-fixing scandal was only exposed by a German newspaper investigation in 2014, when it also emerged that he had in fact assisted the prosecution in the case.
According to a report by the newspaper, Die Zeit, in 2014, the verdict was made by Munich criminal judge Rainer Koch on behalf of the DFB (the German football association). It was found that “no intentional errors could be proven against him”. However, the wording of the verdict stated that the DFB, the German football federation, concluded that he had accepted a bribe.
Zwayer’s ban was limited to six months because of his assistance in prosecuting Hoyzer, who was sentenced to 2½ years in prison. Zwayer accepted the verdict and thus avoided a trial. He then returned to football after the completion of his ban.
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In 2014, Die Zeit nevertheless speculated what might happen in the future.
“What would happen, for example, if the DFB ruling fell into the hands of the English tabloids after Zwayer had awarded a penalty against England in a World Cup semi-final?” the newspaper asked.
Concern has already been expressed about the appointment here in Germany. In a social media post, the Norwegian journalist and former Middlesbrough player, Jan Aage Fjortoft, posted a clip of his Viaplay interview with Bellingham and said: “I am not sure what Uefa are thinking by putting Zwayer at the England game. Back in 2021 Bellingham told me this after the game. And was fined €40,000 by German football officials.”
So far at the Euros, Zwayer has taken charge of Italy v Albania, Turkey v Portugal and Romania v Holland. He was an assistant VAR for England’s matches against Sweden and Croatia at the 2018 World Cup.
Uefa have declined to comment. The FA, meanwhile, are also opting to say nothing on the situation.
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Luke Shaw, the England defender, said he was not worried by the appointment of Zwayer. “We have to respect Uefa on whoever they pick as the referee,” Shaw said. “For us it won’t make any difference.
“Sometimes in a heated moment you get angry and can think [he’s got it in for you], but whatever ref has been picked has been picked, we just have to be ready and not focus on that.”
