In December 2021, when Jude Bellingham wearing the Borussia Dormund shirt, was punished by the sports court of the German Football Federation with a fine of 40,000 euros for recalling, after a Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, the referee’s match-fixing-related past Felix Zwayer, who he will face again two years and seven months later in Wednesday’s Euro Cup semi-finals between England and the Netherlands.
Zwayer and Bellingham They will meet again for the fifth time in their careers. Of the other four, Bellingham, with Borussia Dortmund, he almost always lost his games. In 2021 Borussia Dortmund, under the arbitration of Zwayer, lost 2-1 with Bayer Leverkusen; and in 2022, 2-1 against Leipzig; and 2-3 in the aforementioned match against Bayern Munich. On one occasion only, on the third day of the 2021/22 academic year, Bellingham won with the German referee at the controls: 3-2 against Hoffenheim on the third day of the Bundesliga.
The controversial Dortmund-Bayern
But the last match where the two met, Dortmund-Bayern, was the most controversial. After that, they never met again. Exactly, since December 4, 2021, the 14th matchday of the Bundesliga. In that fight, Bellingham He complained about a possible punishment already Zwayer he did not whistle for his team and after another he signaled with the hand of Mats Hummels within the area.
After the meeting, Bellingham, obvious anger at the decisions of Zwayer, He accused the German referee in statements to Swedish media outlet ViaPlay: “If you give the most important match in Germany to a referee who has fixed matches before… What do you expect?”
The facts and the punishment
The reaction of the sports court of the German Football Federation was immediate and punitive Bellingham with a fine of 40,000 euros for his words, which they described as “unsporting behavior.” And why did you do it? Bellingham Those statements and what does he mean by match fixing? Why? Zwayer, In 2005, he was suspended for six months by the German federation for his alleged involvement, as a young assistant referee, in a match-fixing scandal.
As the German newspaper Die Zeit revealed years later, in 2014, the decision held that Zwayer will receive 300 euros of Robert Hoyzer, the referee also allowed match-fixing, before a match in Bundesliga 2 in 2004 and it was not reported. But the same decision said there was no evidence that Zwayer had rigged the match and that he ultimately provided important evidence.
Zwayer reasons
Zwayer, after accusations of Bellingham of mismanagement in the match between Dortmund and Bayern, he defended his decisions and told Sky Germany that when Hummels, then at Dortmund, He caught the ball with his arm after a corner kick, I had doubts if it stretched his body.
“In real time it was not clear if his arm moved towards the ball. I checked the VAR and verified the position of the arm. The video assistant checked himself and said: Hummels He moved his arm away from his body in an unnatural position. He clearly deflected the ball with his elbow and I decided it was a penalty,” he said.
On the way to three years since that story happened, Bellingham, in the Netherlands-England Euro Cup semi-finals, he will meet again with the referee who one day reminded him that in the past he was related to a match-fixing plot.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
