Felix Zwayer will no longer lead Borussia Dortmund matches in the near future, referee boss Lutz Michael Fröhlich said in an interview with kicker. The reason is the commotion that arose after the top match between Dortmund and Bayern Munich (2-3). The German referee received withering criticism from Jude Bellingham, who could not agree with the decisive penalty.
Bellingham was furious about the penalty that eventually gave Bayern the victory in Dortmund. At a 2-2 score, Mats Hummels unfortunately got the ball against the arm in a header, after which Zwayer gave a penalty to Bayern. “What else do you expect when you give Germany’s biggest match to someone who used to do match fixing?” Bellingham reacted in front of the camera of viaplay. Bellingham was referring to a 2005 match-fixing case in which Zwayer was involved.
The case received a lot of attention at home and abroad and Bellingham received a fine of 40,000 euros, among other things. The German referees’ association has now decided not to let Zwayer lead Dortmund matches for the time being. “In my opinion, it is irresponsible for all parties to get together again quickly,” Fröhlich said in conversation with the above-mentioned newspaper. “It would be good to let it pass some time.”
However, Fröhlich ruled out that Zwayer would no longer act as a referee in matches of BVB. “There will be no second Markus Merk/Schalke case.” The 64-year-old referee boss is referring to the Bayern championship match in the 2000/01 season. The German record champion was awarded a questionable free kick visiting Hamburger SV in the final minute, after which Stefan Effenberg gave Bayern the league title at the expense of Schalke 04. Merk went on to not lead a single match for Schalke until his retirement in 2008.
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