2024-07-09 20:53:10
England and Netherlands will meet in the second semi-final of the Euro on Wednesday night. Germany’s Felix Xavier will be the referee in this match. But the referee’s past actions before the semi-final have been controversial. At one point he was banned for match fixing. Not only that, he also has a bad experience in Bellingham.
UEFA confirmed on Monday that Felix will officiate the second semi-final between England and the Netherlands. He will be assisted by Stefan Loup and Marco Akmuller.
Referee Felix, 43, was banned for six months in 2005 for taking a £250 bribe. The German newspaper published news about the matter. It was then revealed that Felix took money from the associate referee to influence the match. And he hid it. After the matter came to light, he cooperated with the investigation. Although the investigation showed that the money was taken, Felix did not commit any intentional wrongdoing in the match and officiated the match properly.
But in 2021, Bellingham made comments about referee Felix after Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 loss against Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga. At that time, the English midfielder also spoke about Felix’s match-fixing. Felix gave a penalty to Bayern at the last moment in that match. In addition, Matt Hummels caught the ball with his hand in the box, but the referee Felix ignored the matter.
After the match, 18-year-old Bellingham said in 2021, ‘Look at the decisions of the match. These decisions are given by a referee who has a record of winning matches in the past. And in Germany’s biggest match, he gave such decisions today. What can you expect from him?’
Seber Bellingham was fined €40,000 for talking about referees’ past actions. The referee will be responsible for England’s important semi-final!
Felix played three matches in this year’s Euro. He gave 13 yellow cards out of them.
England are on a mission to win a major trophy since 1966. A win against the Netherlands will put Gareth Southgate’s side just one game away from ending their 58-year wait for the trophy.