England will once again play a UEFA Euro knockout game, supervised by a referee with a controversial past. Daniele Orsato, who had angered Real Madrid and Croatia national team with questionable calls, had taken charge of England’s quarter-final win against Switzerland. Now, we have German official Felix Zwayer to take charge of the coveted England- Netherlands semi-final. Notably, English ace Jude Bellingham will have to battle a past demon to share the field with Zwayer, as he was once fined for criticizing the FIFA-registered official.

Zwayer has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2012. But last year’s UEFA Nations League final was the first time he officiated a major international competition. Now that Zwayer’s refereeing journey is progressing with his UEFA Euro feature, let’s delve deeper into his troubled past.

What was Felix Zwayer’s involvement in a match-fixing controversy?

Felix Zwayer started refereeing in Germany’s Bundesliga in 2005. Within a year, however, the German official would invite trouble. Zwayer accepted 300 euros in a bribe to cover up for fellow referee Robert Hoyzer who was involved in a match-fixing fiasco. Subsequently, Zwayer got a six-month ban after a thorough investigation. The 43-year-old later lifted the lid on Hoyzer’s match-fixing scam and the latter got a ban for life from refereeing soccer matches.

After serving the ban, Zwayer returned strongly and became a FIFA-listed referee in 2012. He was a part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup VAR team. He has been active in the ongoing Euros from the start. In this tournament, Zwayer took charge of the Italy-Albania group stage game and the Portugal-Turkiye group game.

Thereafter, he oversaw the Netherlands’ 3-0 win against Romania. Hence, it is no new affair for Virgil Van Dijk and Co. to have Zwayer in the middle. But for England’s Jude Bellingham, a previous beef with the German official might come to haunt him.

Why did Jude Bellingham criticize Zwayer?

In 2021, during Jude Bellingham’s Borussia Dortmund days, his team lost 3-2 to bitter rivals Bayern Munich in a game Felix Zwayer had officiated. In that game, Zwayer denied Dortmund a penalty kick and did not shy away, from granting the spot kick to Munich.

This infuriated Bellingham and he said, “You give a referee that has a match fixed before the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?” Subsequently, the Bundesliga authorities slapped the then-18-year-old Bellingham with a $36,000 fine.

While the Real Madrid star’s infamous history with Zwayer stands, his English teammate Luke Shaw is fine with UEFA’s decision to give charge to Felix Zwayer. Fellow Germans Stefan Lupp and Marco Achmuller will assist Zwayer from the sidelines tonight. Meanwhile, Bastian Dankert will be the VAR official for the England-Netherlands tie.