UEFA confirm controversial referee for Spurs vs Man Utd Europa League final

UEFA have confirmed that Felix Zwayer will referee the between and . The two English clubs will clash at the San Memes in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21, and the German has been selected to be the man in the middle.

Zwayer, 43, recently took charge of Arsenal's semi-final second leg away to . Fans may also remember him from refereeing the semi-final between and the last July.

Despite his vast experience and pedigree, the official is renowned for being involved in a match-fixing scandal. In 2005, he accepted a £250 bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer. while Hoyzer received a two-year five-month prison sentence and was given a lifetime ban from any role in football.

The Berlin-born ref's chequered past hasn't stopped him from becoming one of the most highly regarded officials in European football, though. Zwayer has taken charge of over 685 top-level matches, one of those being a controversial Bundesliga clash between and in 2021.

After Zwayer awarded a penalty to Bayern following a handball by , then-Dortmund star brought up Zwayer's past. "You give a referee, that has match fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?" Bellingham said to in an explosive post-match interview.

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"You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game. For me, it wasn't [a penalty]. He (Hummels) is not even looking at the ball and he's fighting to get it and it hits him."

Bellingham was fined £34,000 for his comments by the German FA and Zwayer demanded a personal apology. "I would prefer to clarify this in a personal conversation with Jude Bellingham and have offered such a personal conversation to Borussia Dortmund," he told .

Who'll win the Europa League final - Tottenham or Man Utd? Give us your score predictions in the .

"For me, it's not about punishment, but about the realisation that he went too far. I would accept a sincere apology. The statement deliberately creates the false impression that I did not referee the match to the best of my ability.

"It is personal, disparaging and disrespectful. Even if you put yourself in the subjective perspective, which is marked by emotion, his statement is far from professional or factual."

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