The British media attacked UEFA for choosing German referee Felix Zwayer to officiate the England-Netherlands match in the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
The main reason for the anger over Zwayer’s appointment is the fact that he is one of the most controversial German referees of the last decade, although he is performing well this Euro.
Zwayer had an unfortunate incident when he was accused in a betting case in 2005 and was suspended for 6 months because of it, and England star Jude Bellingham reproached him for this incident a few years ago.
Billingham previously played for Borussia Dortmund and left after a match against Bayern Munich, which was managed by Zwayer and he attacked him severely because of the mistakes that caused his team to lose 3-2 at the time.
Billingham said at the time, “You give a referee who has previously fixed matches to officiate the biggest match in Germany, so what did you expect?”
The English press wondered why Zwayer was appointed again to manage a match for the Netherlands, knowing that he was the one who led the Windmills’ match against Romania in the round of 16, which Ronald Koeman’s squad won 3-0.
At the same time, it does not seem like a good idea for a German referee to officiate a match for England, days after referee Anthony Taylor’s mistakes in the match between Germany and Spain caused the Germans to lose and leave the tournament in the quarter-finals.
