From the 2006 scandal in Bundesliga 2 to the controversy with Bellingham: the controversial past of the German who whistled the penalty on compatriot Wirtz. And the VAR at San Siro has already infuriated Ranieri…
Inter didn’t like the refereeing of the match against Liverpool at all. Not only for the penalty awarded to Wirtz for a non-excessive hold by Bastoni but also for the general management. In this specific case, the protagonist was not the German referee, Felix Zwayer, but the VAR, Soren Storks, who was also decisive in the episode contested in the first half by the English, the handball by Ekitiké which canceled out Konate’s goal.
controversies
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The Inter managers, who had a calm discussion with the referee at San Siro, didn’t like his lack of personality: Zwayer could have also defended the assessment made on the pitch; according to what witnesses reported, he was quite sorry for what happened, which cost Inter their second consecutive defeat in the Champions League. It is difficult to accuse the refereeing team of lacking honesty, precisely because there are two controversial episodes, one on each side.
embarrassing story
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Meanwhile, Marotta and Ausilio were astonished when they discovered the backgrounds of Zwayer, a 44-year-old real estate agent from Berlin, and Storks, a 37-year-old carpenter from Velen. The first, when he was a very young linesman, was even disqualified for six months by the German Football Federation for football betting. The federal court found, in a file that remained classified for almost ten years and then handed over to the German press, that Zwayer accepted 300 euros in cash from a then disbarred referee, Robert Hoyzer, to “not damage” Wuppertaler in the Northern regional championship match against Werder Bremen 2 (30 May 2004). Zwayer would then have self-reported, helping to frame his colleague at the center of the investigation, thus avoiding a life sentence in sports.
the protests
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But Zwayer has also done other things as a top referee, to whom the referee Roberto Rosetti entrusted the latest Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham. In 2016 Rudi Voeller, director of Bayer Leverkusen, openly protested for his refereeing against Borussia Dortmund, a match suspended due to the controversy resulting from a goal by Aubameyang. In 2021, however, Zwayer was harshly criticized for not giving Dortmund a penalty against Bayern, in the Bundesliga. When interviewed on the topic, Jude Bellingham, Borussia star at the time, responded as follows: “What do you expect if a referee convicted of football betting is appointed for the most important match of the championship?”.
the var
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As for VAR, Storks was on the video during Porto-Roma last February, the first leg of the Europa League playoffs. The referee of that match, the German Stieler, was firmly reprimanded by Claudio Ranieri, who also took it out on Rosetti, accused of having appointed an inadequate professional.
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