{"id":324751,"date":"2024-07-09T16:33:15","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T21:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=324751"},"modified":"2024-07-09T16:33:15","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T21:33:15","slug":"euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/","title":{"rendered":"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer"},"content":{"rendered":"

UEFA, European soccer\u2019s governing body, is standing by its decision to place a referee once banned for his role in a match-fixing scandal in charge of Wednesday\u2019s Euro 2024<\/a> semi-final between England and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\"Felix
Felix Zwayer, above, was investigated by the German Football Association, which found no evidence that he had manipulated a 2004 game where he served as linesman. Meanwhile, he has an awkward history with England star Jude Bellingham. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Felix Zwayer<\/a> was banned from soccer for six months as a result of the scandal, which happened two decades ago in his native Germany.<\/p>\n

Zwayer was found to have received \u20ac300 from notorious match-fixer, former referee Robert Hoyzer, to \u201cavoid critical situations\u201d for one team in a May 2004 German Cup game, according to a German Football Association (DFB) investigation. Zwayer was the linesman in the game between SV Wuppertal and Werder Bremen, while Hoyzer was the first official.<\/p>\n

Bellingham Beef<\/strong><\/h2>\n

However, the DFB could find no evidence that Zwayer had directly manipulated the game. His punishment was lenient because of his contribution to the investigation of the case. He was one of a group of whistleblowers \u2013 pun intended \u2013 who approached the DFB with concerns about Hoyzer in late 2004.<\/p>\n

That Zwayer accepted money from Hoyzer was hidden from public knowledge until a decade later when German newspaper\u00a0Der Zeit<\/em>\u00a0published an expos\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s match may be particularly awkward given the history between Zwayer and England\u2019s talismanic midfielder Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n

\n

In 2021, Bellingham criticized Zwayer\u2019s performance after a game between his team, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich with the words: \u201cIf you give a referee, who has, you know, match-fixed before, the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The DFB fined the player \u20ac40K for the remark.<\/p>\n

Zwayer will be hoping the tomorrow\u2019s game passes without any such controversy. Make a decision that leaves England aggrieved and he will undoubtedly face the wrath of the British tabloids.<\/p>\n

What Happened to Hoyzer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hoyzer fell under suspicion after officiating a match between the Bundesliga\u2019s Hamburg and non-league minnows Paderborn in August 2004 in the first round of the German Cup. Few gave Paderborn a chance, but the team ran out an unlikely winner after Hoyzer awarded it two phantom penalties and sent off Hamburg\u2019s Belgian forward Emile Mpenza.<\/p>\n

When suspicious betting patterns were reported, authorities launched a criminal investigation. Hoyzer admitted he had manipulated several games on behalf of a Croatian gambling syndicate operated by three brothers, Ante Sapina, Milan Sapina, and Filip Sapina. The brothers won \u20ac500K from betting on the Paderborn game alone.<\/p>\n

Hoyzer was sentenced to two years and five months in prison and banned for soccer for life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UEFA, European soccer\u2019s governing body, is standing by its decision to place a referee once banned for his role in a match-fixing scandal in charge of Wednesday\u2019s Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands. Felix Zwayer was banned from soccer for six months as a result of the scandal, which happened two decades ago […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":324752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86644,21,82966,1074],"tags":[91358,91623,91625,82204,90814,91624],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEuro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Felix Zwayer, who will referee the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands was once banned for role in match-fixing scandal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Felix Zwayer, who will referee the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands was once banned for role in match-fixing scandal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T21:33:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/\",\"name\":\"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-09T21:33:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-09T21:33:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Felix Zwayer, who will referee the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands was once banned for role in match-fixing scandal.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":562,\"caption\":\"Felix Zwayer, above, was investigated by the German Football Association, which found no evidence that he had manipulated a 2004 game where he served as linesman. Meanwhile, he has an awkward history with England star Jude Bellingham. (Image: Getty)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crime & Scandals\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer","description":"Felix Zwayer, who will referee the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands was once banned for role in match-fixing scandal.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer","og_description":"Felix Zwayer, who will referee the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands was once banned for role in match-fixing scandal.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-07-09T21:33:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":562,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/","name":"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-09T21:33:15+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-09T21:33:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Felix Zwayer, who will referee the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands was once banned for role in match-fixing scandal.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Zwayer.jpg","width":1000,"height":562,"caption":"Felix Zwayer, above, was investigated by the German Football Association, which found no evidence that he had manipulated a 2004 game where he served as linesman. Meanwhile, he has an awkward history with England star Jude Bellingham. (Image: Getty)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/euro-2024-semi-final-ref-once-accepted-cash-from-notorious-match-fixer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crime & Scandals","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Euro 2024 Semi-Final Ref Once Accepted Cash from Notorious Match Fixer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324751"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324756,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324751\/revisions\/324756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}