UEFA confirm controversial Tottenham vs Man Utd Europa League referee decision after Arsenal drama

Felix Zwayer has been confirmed as the referee for the Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United. The German official will take charge of the match in Bilbao, Spain, on Wednesday, May 21.

The UEFA referee was named for the second leg of Arsenal's Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain last week. Zwayer has been involved in almost 700 games but has also been caught up in a match-fixing scandal.

Zwayer was the man who awarded PSG's second half penalty in France only for it to be saved by David Raya. After being sent to VAR he gave a handball for an incident following a close-range PSG shot which hit Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The 43-year-old had already been someone to watch after being banned for six months back in 2005. He was assistant to referee Robert Hoyzer and allegedly accepted a bribe of over £200 after coming forward to make the German football association aware of what had happened.

Zwayer was picked as the referee for England's Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands last year. That was already a controversial selection by UEFA after Jude Bellingham had called Zwayer out during his time at Borussia Dortmund.

"You give a referee that has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany - what do you expect?" the midfielder said in 2021 after Bayern Munich beat his side 3-2 and had a penalty given.

"For me, it wasn't [a penalty]. He [Mats Hummels] is not even looking at the ball and he's fighting to get it and it hits him. You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game." Bellingham was fined almost £35,000 for the outburst.

In his 37 matches across all competitions (including Bundesliga, Champions League, Saudi Pro League, and international Nations League fixtures) Zwayer has issued a staggering 198 yellow cards and seven red cards (four straight sending offs). He has also given 12 penalties.

Zwayer has been in charge of just one Europa League game so far. That was Bodo/Glimt's 2-1 last-16 loss to Olympiacos in the first leg. He gave six yellow cards, one red card, and a penalty.

This will be Zwayer's first European club final. He was in charge of the 2023 Nations League final between Croatia and Spain and has also been appointed for the German Cup and Super Cup.

At the 2018 World Cup he was used as one of those on VAR duty. Zwayer has previously refereed two games involving Tottenham. The last time was in the 2018/19 Champions League 4-2 group stage defeat to Barcelona at Wembley Stadium. He gave six yellow cards out that night, four of them to Spurs players.

Zwayer's first game involving Tottenham was in the 2015/16 Europa League away draw to Fiorentina where five yellow cards were issued, four for Spurs. He has refereed four matches for United and they are unbeaten.

The last time he oversaw a game was in the 2022/23 Europa League quarter-final home draw to Sevilla. He had overseen two Champions League wins (in 2021/22 and 2017/18) against Villarreal and Benfica) before that. His first game with United was a 2016/17 Europa League game at FC Rostov.

Europa League final

We have an all-English Europa League final and focus now will be on how fans can get their hands on tickets, but also get out to Bilbao for the match on Wednesday, May 21.

The best way to get to Bilbao will be to fly, although most direct flights are now fully booked.

There are other way sto go though, with different airports an option.

Check out SkyScanner here to sort out your travel arrangements.

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