Felix Zwayer (born 19 May 1981) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee who is based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He referees for SC Charlottenburg of the Berlin Football Association. He is a

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

referee, and is ranked as a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

elite category referee.

Refereeing career

Zwayer began officiating on the DFB level in 2004. In 2007, he was promoted to officiate in the 2. Bundesliga, as well as an assistant referee in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. Two years later, Zwayer was promoted to officiate in the

for the 2009–10 season. In 2005, Zwayer was involved in the match fixing scandal which centered around 2. Bundesliga referee Robert Hoyzer, who took bribes to fix several matches which he officiated. Zwayer assisted him in a match and allegedly accepted a bribe of 300 euros to avoid critical scenes for Wuppertaler SV. In January 2005, he and three other high-ranking referees informed the DFB about Hoyzer's match fixing. He was subsequently banned from refereeing for 6 months, a suspension that was kept secret for several years until the German newspaper published a secret file from the German FA. On 21 February 2016,

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

manager Roger Schmidt was sent off by Zwayer in a match against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

after disputing a free kick that led to a goal for Dortmund, the only goal of the game. Schmidt initially refused to leave, causing the referee to suspend the game and lead the players off the field, causing an eight-minute delay, before the game resumed without Schmidt on the field. On 30 April 2018, Zwayer was selected by FIFA as one of the video assistant referees for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia, the first

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

to use the technology. In December 2021, Zwayer officiated a game between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in which he was heavily criticised for not giving Dortmund a penalty and sending off coach Marco Rose. After the game, Dortmund's Jude Bellingham made reference to the Zwayer affair, saying: "You give a referee that has match fixed before the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?" After the controversy, Zwayer took a break from refereeing. He returned in February 2022 in a 2. Bundesliga game between

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

and SV Darmstadt, once more receiving criticism for a decision not to give a penalty. His comeback also brought further coverage of his participation in the 2005 match fixing scandal. On 12th May 2025,

announced that Zwayer would take charge of the all-English 2025 UEFA Europa League Final between Tottenham Hotspur and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

which took place on 21st May 2025 at the San Mamés Stadium in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Personal life

Zwayer is a real estate broker and lives in

. He is married with two daughters (born around 2018 and 2021).

References

External links

Profile
at dfb.de * * * *
Felix Zwayer {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwayer, Felix 1981 births Living people German football referees Sportspeople from Berlin UEFA Champions League referees UEFA Europa League referees 2018 FIFA World Cup referees UEFA Euro 2024 referees

Refereeing career

Personal life

See also

References

External links