Exclusive: Villa ref, Felix Zwayer, should not be allowed on a football pitch – ever

Last night’s Europa Conference League semi-final second-leg tie between Olympiacos and Aston Villa was officiated by 42-year-old Felix Zwayer.

It was a controversial choice by UEFA as back in 2005, Zwayer was involved in a match-fixing scandal in German football.

He came forward to ‘whistle blow’ on his colleagues who all received lifetime bans as a result. Zwayer served a six-month ban of his own before being allowed to take up refereeing again as if nothing had happened.

It’s a decision that has riled Stan Collymore.

Collymore doesn’t want Felix Zwayer anywhere near a football pitch

“By the time this column reaches you, Aston Villa will or won’t be in a European Final,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.

“For me as a fan since 1977, who’s seen my club win the European Cup, the Conference League would be a nice trophy to win, and especially so for the younger Villains more used to Championship rather than Champions League.

“I’ll have flown to Athens and back in a day to see my team play in a fine stadium in one of the world’s great cities, facing a club with a storied history in Greek football.

“All set for fairness, the sporting ethos of the ancient Greeks and the best team wins over two games, right? You’d hope so.

“My problem is with the referee, Felix Zwayer.

“In 2005 he came forward as a whistle-blower in a German football corruption case and served a six-month ban (the others had life bans) for accepting a bribe. The six months would have been a life ban if he hadn’t come forward.

“Although I’m living proof of redemption after wrongdoing, there is a huge difference between me writing this column, or appearing on radio or TV with an opinion, as opposed to a man found guilty of involvement in changing game outcomes who is then allowed to referee a major European semi-final.”

It’s not just the 2005 incident where he’s made waves either.

Zwayer was in charge of ‘Der Klassiker’ between Borussia Dortmund played Bayern Munich back in 2021 and received a huge amount of criticism for his sending off of Dortmund manager, Marco Rose, as well as his decision not to give a penalty to them.

At the time both Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham were highly critical of his performance, and Bellingham’s words even landed him in hot water.

Stan Collymore is very unhappy with UEFA’s continued employment of Felix Zwayer as a top-level referee.

“Jude Bellingham was fined for criticising him, Xabi Alonso was withering of his performance and Bild, Germany’s sports paper, gave him the lowest mark a referee could get in a recent game,” Collymore continued.

“He was 23 when the corruption happened and he’s now 42. Again, I have no problem with his redemption in terms of being a pundit, or teaching referees or admin somewhere in the sport.

“But anyone over the age of 21 (unless they would get an opportunity to learn and move on, under probation) involved in performance enhancing drugs, corruption, illegal match fixing behaviour, or anything considered to be fundamentally detrimental to the integrity of the sport, should never be involved on the pitch again.

“Sorry, it opens the sport up to all sorts of slurs and whispers, just as English referees are surrounded over recent VAR decisions.

“It whittles away confidence until none is left, like in cycling or athletics. I’m sure Zwayer is a good ref but not so good that we can’t find a referee without any stain upon his character.”

The former Villa, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Leicester and England hit-man has a point.

Football as a product has to be seen as whiter than white. There simply can’t be any grey areas whatsoever.

In allowing Zwayer to continue being the man in the middle, any even slightly contentious decisions that are made are going to be pored over for far longer than would normally be necessary.

You would think that the powers that be at UEFA would have those precise scenarios in mind, and come to the sensible conclusion that they can’t afford to have any more muck thrown in their direction.

Giving Zwayer a second chance, however admirable, is clearly the wrong decision and woe betide those who continue to authorise his presence on a football field if he gets a big call wrong.

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