All eyes are going to be on this guy now, so it might be that helps us. But still, it's just utterly unfathomable how something like this happens in 2024.
Maybe UEFA are taking a leaf out of the new prisons minister, John Timpson's book, by employing ex-offenders.
Get this. Dagmar Damkova, a former women's ref, is on both the UEFA and FIFA referee committees. She is married to Roman Berbr, the former head of the Czech FA, who - you guessed it - is guilty of match-fixing, and being involved in organised crime.
I wish people would check their facts first. Zwayer was not behind the match fixing. That was referee Robert Hoyzer, who was banned for life and sent to prison. Zwayer did take a bribe from Hoyzer which is why he was banned for 6 months but he didn't referee any of the affected matches. He was on the line for one of Hoyzer's matches and Hoyzer told him to look the other way at certain instances. Shortly after this he went to the German FA with 3 other officials to report Hoyzer. He made a big mistake in taking the bribe, but he did turn in the referee who did fix the matches. Hoyzer was the one who was taking bribes from the Croatian gambling syndicate ordering him to fix the matches.
Sorry, Tom, but this alone should be enough to prevent an individual from ever refereeing at the top level. It's really not something that can be defended. Surely as a referee yourself, these type of people bring your entire profession into disrepute. Half of your posts on this forum are aimed at defending the reputation and dignity of referees. So surely any ref that takes a bribe should be someone you are totally against. I mean, defend the refs for their on-pitch decisions, that's fine, but you don't have to defend them for their off-pitch decisions too. And even if he is totally clean now, which I'm sure he probably is, UEFA should have known better than to appoint someone with such a jaded history, for such a high-profile game. It has opened a can of worms, and the whole footballing world will be closely scrutinising every decision that Zwayer makes. For his own protection, he shouldn't be given this game. Imagine the fallout if he denies either team a penalty for example. He might have to deal with death threats and trolls for many years. Furthermore, he's not even considered to be a very good ref anyway. He is largely derided by fans of Bundesliga teams. He is banned from refereeing Dortmund games, which again should prevent him from reffing at the top level. And the whole Bellingham thing provides a clear conflict of interest too.
I'm not defending what he did at all. The scandal was sickening for every honest referee out there. However, there were plenty of mitigating circumstances which saved Zwayer from a life ban. He never communicated with the gang behind the fixing, he played a very minor role in the whole thing. We also don't know the circumstances behind him taking the bribe - he may have been coerced for all we know. Either way, he played a big role in exposing the whole scandal which is clearly the biggest reason for the relatively short ban. I'm not saying he should be refereeing the game tomorrow, but that's because of his ability rather than any doubts about his integrity now. 19 years is a long time.
Bribery brings the entire sport into question so it should be questioned if he should be allowed to referee at any level, ever again, let alone referee one of the highest profile fixtures in the entire sport.
Ditto me. I think everyone deserves second chances but there are some jobs / roles where you need to maintain total integrity. This guy was willing to "look the other way" for a couple of hundred, what would he do for a few thousand? I was maybe a little harsh in the Politics thread re Labour appointing ministers who had previously fiddled expenses. But to me it's a similar principle. Also similar in that little regret or remorse has been demonstrated, except for being found out. Bellingham was unwise to comment previously, but was fined for stating in essence a fact. It's a stupid appointment for him to ref this game. Bellingham is one of the most difficult players in world footy to cope with around the penalty area. This ref is now going to make a series of fine calls which are going to be under suspicion whichever way it goes. Just silly and provocative.
Ironic that our game tomorrow is at Dortmund's stadium. "Sorry, Mr. Zwayer, you're banned from here." "Ach, nein. I have found, how to say, a loophole."
Whilst I agree that he shouldn't ref, as we guilty of double standards? Ivan Toney? Didn't he bet on games he played in? (I could have that bit wrong)
I don’t think so and that is what saved him. I think he just bet on games in general, which players still aren’t allowed to do
He did bet on games involving the team he was playing for. Multiple times. It was his apparent gambling addiction that saved him from a potential life ban; https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...o-conceal-gambling-fa-addiction-ban-brentford
The issue is not so much with Zwayer himself, but more with UEFA for such a careless appointment. Likewise, if the FA decide that Toney is okay to continue playing, then that's on them, not Toney. Toney probably should have got a much harsher punishment.
I occasionally read a referee's forum and I came across this post which actually I think hits the nail on the head. Has summed up how I feel about it but actually explained it a lot better: To me, Zwayer's appointment is one of the biggest shocks from UEFA, who, as of late, are quite good at shocking with their decisions. Fair play to those who predicted it. I think it is a political appointment but perhaps more internal politics, Rosetti or at least some committee members, are most unhappy with Marciniak it seems. Oliver and Taylor are out for obvious reasons. Kovacs seems to be out too after his last performance (not that I agree to be clear). Both French officials out for the same reasons as the English. Makkelie seems to have been rejected by the committee too. The the rest they must feel don't have the experience or performed poorly. Then Germany being the host nation must play a part too. All that is speculation though. The facts are that Zwayer has been kept away from refereeing Bellingham since the incident and away from Dortmund I believe. After Bellingham's comments, Zwayer appeared, from the outside, to be deeply affected taking a long time away from refereeing. This controversy will now be brought up again, magnified to the extreme and place Zwayer under immense pressure. I don't feel it is fair on either team, but I really feel for Zwayer for whom this should be a career highlight - I hope it will be but fear it will be a nightmare. On the substance of what happened almost 20 years ago, my impression from my knowledge of the case was of a young assistant referee who made a terrible mistake when pressured by a senior colleague with links to some unsavory people. He ultimately came forward a short time later and was a reason the scheme was found out. The German FA handed out severe penalties in that case as did criminal courts. The fact that Zwayer faced a minor suspension to me says a lot. In refereeing, honesty is everything (obviously I know!) and when there is an even somewhat legitimate way to question a referee's honesty, however unfairly, I think it is very damming. I wouldn't like to be judged for mistakes that I made 20 years ago, that I surely regretted at the time, took steps to correct, served a punishment and rebuilt admirably from. UEFA have ensured that Zwayer will face that scrutiny on a global scale, I can't imagine the pressure. I don't like the idea that controversy, or certain players comments can keep a referee away from a team but at a certain point, the referees wellbeing and the appearance of fairness is more important than a macho type 'they won't tell us' appointing policy. I hope I am not overreacting to UEFA's decision, but I feel it is wrong on so many levels, shame on them.
