Referee for ENG vs NED once was banned and has unsavoury history with Bellingham

UEFA have controversially appointed Felix Zwayer as referee for England vs Holland.

The Three Lions face the Dutch in the Euro 2024 semi-final on Wednesday night.

With Zwayer, 43, the man in charge of the clash despite his previous for match-fixing and history with Jude Bellingham.

The German official was banned from football for six months back in 2005 due to his involvement in a huge scandal.

Zwayer, who then worked as a linesman, accepted a £253 (€300) bribe from ref Robert Hoyzer to help him fix a second division match.

The Euros ref was then one of four officials who went to the German FA with concerns over Hoyzer.

Following an investigation, it emerged he had taken money from a Croatian gambling syndicate connected to an organised crime group to help fix several matches.

Hoyzer was banned from football for life and received a two years and five-month prison sentence.

After his comeback, Zwayer was promoted to a Bundesliga official in 2009 and he has since been slammed by Bellingham.

While playing for Borussia Dortmund, the England midfielder raged after Bayern Munich were awarded a controversial penalty for handball in a 3-2 defeat three years ago.

Bellingham said in a post-match interview: "For me it wasn't a penalty. Hummels is not even looking at the ball and he's fighting to get it. It hits him, I don't think he's looking at the ball.

"You can look at a lot of the other decisions in the game.

"You give a referee that has, you know, match fixed before, the biggest game in Germany - what do you expect?"

Bellingham was slapped with a £34,000 fine for his comments.

Zwayer took a month's break from refereeing after the controversy.

Away from the pitch, he has a lucrative side hustle as a real estate manager in Berlin.

So far at the Euros, Zwayer has taken charge of Italy vs Albania, Turkey vs Portugal and Romania vs Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Slovenian ref Slavko Vincic will be the man with the whistle for the other semi-final between Spain and France.