The referee for tomorrow night’s England v Netherlands match was once suspended over his connection to a sordid money-fixing scandal linked to a shady eastern European betting syndicate, MailOnline has learned.
German referee Felix Zwayer, 43, was previously criticised as corrupt by England star Jude Bellingham for having been previously involved in ‘match-fixing’.
Bellingham slammed Zwayer after he officiated in a match involving the star’s team Borussia Dortmund loss to arch rivals Bayern Munich in 2021.
Bellingham said afterwards: ‘You give a referee that has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany – what do you expect?’
Now MailOnline has uncovered exactly what Zwayer did to provoke such comments and unearthed the full details of a scandal that both Uefa and the German Football Association (DFB) have been trying to downplay.
Felix Zwayer referees the Euro 2024 last 16 game between Romania and Netherlands on July 2
Jude Bellingham hit out at Zwayer after Dortmund’s loss to Bayern Munich in 2021
Zwayer, a Berlin-based real-estate entrepreneur, was found to have accepted an inducement of €300 (£253) as he covered up for a fellow referee who had become embroiled in gang-based match-fixing.
In 2005, just one year after qualifying as an official, Zwayer was an assistant referee during the Wuppertal SV Borussia vs. Werder Bremen match.
The main referee, Robert Hoyzer, had been bribed by Croatian criminals to give decisions favourable to Wuppertal – and to avoid making critical decisions against them.
It would later emerge that Hoyzer had been acting in collusion with a Balkan-based betting syndicate.
The accusation against Zwayer in the affair was that he was guilty of malpractice because he knew Hoyzer was doing just that – and didn’t immediately report it.
Zwayer, who had then known Hoyzer for about ten years, was implicated when it emerged that Hoyzer had given him €300 before the match on May 30, 2004.
Hoyzer claimed Zwayer helped Wuppertal obtain their 1-0 win by ‘waving and not waving’ during the game. The goal came from a Hoyzer-awarded penalty.
An investigation by the DFB later concluded that Zwayer had not made any deliberate mistakes.
Zwayer eventually received a six-month ban from refereeing for his ‘grossly unsportsmanlike’ behaviour in initially remaining silent – though the DFB acknowledged that he eventually had helped in the investigation.
The DFB, managed to keep details of the whole scandal out of the public eye until 2014, when the German newspaper Die Zeit learned what had happened.
In the intervening period Zwayer had been so rehabilitated that he was by 2014 established as a rising star of German refereeing – that year he was named Germany’s Referee of the Year after officiating at Bundesliga matches, Champions League and international matches.
Retired senior Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe today told MailOnline he thinks it was ‘madness’ to give the England-Netherlands game to Zwayer given his past.
He told MailOnline: ‘It is exemplary of the current miserable structures and weak referees… and irresponsible towards everyone.
‘Just a demonstration of power both internally and externally – regardless of performance and past. Madness!’
He previously said on the subject: ‘A referee who had been involved in match-fixing and kept silent about it for six months until the last moment, who thus enabled further manipulation, was condemned by his own association, is nominated… for the European Championship and scheduled for this match.
Robert Hoyzer was bribed by Croatian criminals to give decisions favourable to Wuppertal SV Borussia in a match against Werder Bremen. He is pictured at court in Berlin in 2005
‘For me and many others, a referee who has done this… no longer belongs on the pitch as a referee.’
The decision to allow Zwayer to officiate tomorrow given his past was also condemned by veteran English referee Keith Hackett.
Mr Hackett said: ‘While there is now doubt of Zwayer’s ability as a referee, I believe any official who is guilty of taking any bribe, no matter how big or small, should never be allowed to officiate a professional game again – especially a European semi-final… Zwayer is a lucky man to be given the opportunity to referee such a big game.’
The main architect of the plot, Hoyzer, had begun his officiating career with Hertha BSC. From 2003 to 2005, he officiated 11 matches in the 2nd Bundesliga.
The match-fixing scandal first came to light with the manipulated DFB Club Cup match on August 21, 2004, between SC Paderborn 07 and Hamburger SV.
Here, Hoyzer awarded dubious penalties against HSV, leading to a shocking 4-2 defeat for the Bundesliga team.
It later emerged Hoyzer had manipulated several games in the second division, the regional league, and the DFB Cup, accepting bribes from Croatian businessman Ante Sapina, who operated out of Café King in Charlottenburg, Berlin.
Hoyzer’s first attempt at manipulation on May 22, 2004, involved a regional league match between SC Paderborn and Chemnitz. Hoyzer was supposed to ensure Paderborn led at halftime for a fee of €8,000 (£6,758).
But the plot in this game went wrong when Hoyzer awarded a dubious penalty – only to be publicly overruled by his assistant. This saw him having to return the bribe as the bets failed.
He was arrested on February 12, 2005 and soon afterwards admitted to manipulating match outcomes in exchange for cash and benefits to facilitate betting profits.
This revelation came after initial denials, leading to his resignation from refereeing and the Hertha BSC club.
Despite confessing and cooperating with investigators, Hoyzer was sentenced to two years and five months in prison on November 17, 2005, for aiding and abetting fraud.
His appeal was rejected by the Federal Court of Justice on December 15, 2006, making the sentence final.
As the investigation expanded, more matches and individuals were implicated, transforming the case into a widespread scandal.
Felix Zwayer and Jude Bellingham during a Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in December 2021
Public reaction in Germany was angry.
Kicker magazine reported on January 25, 2005, that the scandal sent shockwaves through German football, questioning the sport’s integrity.
Franz Beckenbauer, in a Bild interview on January 27, 2005, called it a ‘dark day for German football,’ while DFB President Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder labeled Hoyzer’s actions a ‘betrayal of trust’ during a press conference on January 25, 2005.
The term ‘Hoyzer’ quickly became synonymous with cheating in football. The verb ‘hoyzern’ was even coined, and it was voted Germany’s word of the year in 2005.
Throughout the scandal, Hoyzer made several public appearances, including an apology on the Johannes B. Kerner.
After serving half of his sentence, Hoyzer was released from prison on July 18, 2008, for good behaviour. In 2011, the DFB partially lifted his lifetime ban, allowing him to play as an amateur but prohibiting any official roles within the association.
Zwayer arrives at the Munich Football Arena for Romania versus Netherlands on July 2
Hoyzer attempted to rebuild his career in football, signing with SSC Teutonia 1899 in May 2011 and later taking on various administrative roles, including technical director at Berliner AK 07 and FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin.
He returned to playing and managing at FSV Spandauer Kickers in the 2018/19 season.
Zwayer, however, still claims he did nothing wrong, saying: ‘I was never offered money, I was never obviously told of any intended or executed match-fixing. I have never received money from Robert for any involvement in any manipulation of a match.’
Ante Sapina, the mastermind behind the betting scandal, was a key figure in the scandal – and Café King became the centre of the activity, where poker games and discussions about match-fixing took place.
Sapina reportedly made as much as €1million (£840,000) from each fixed game.
