Luke Shaw insists that England is not concerned about UEFA appointing a referee engaged in a match-fixing case to supervise their Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands.
Felix Zwayer, a German official, covertly received a six-month punishment in 2006 after being caught accepting a €300 (£250) bribe while supporting disgraced referee Robert Hoyzer, who was later sentenced to two years in jail. When he and three other high-ranking referees told the German Football Federation (DFB) about Hoyzer’s match-fixing, Zwayer was suspended for six months.
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His ban was kept secret until a German tabloid revealed it in 2014. Zwayer’s punishment was brought back to the forefront three years ago when England player Jude Bellingham, then playing for Borussia Dortmund, lambasted the referee during a post-match interview and referenced the ban. Reported By Mirror.
Bellingham will now face Zwayer again when the German takes charge of England’s match against the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the Euro 2024 final against France or Spain.
The Manchester United defender added: “We have to respect UEFA’s decision on who they choose as referee. That will not change anything for us; we will continue to focus on the game at hand rather than the refs assigned to us.”
Bellingham brought up the match-fixing allegation after Zwayer converted a penalty against Dortmund in their late 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich in November 2021. The England midfielder exploded: “It hits [Mats Hummels’ arm] and I don’t even think he’s looking at the ball, but 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?”
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