Aston Villa fans aren’t happy with the appointment of a referee for its Europa Conference League semi-final who once served a six-month ban for match-fixing offenses. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Felix Zwayer is taking charge of Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday night against Greek side Olympiacos and some fans aren’t too happy about the appointment. The referee was part of a match-fixing scandal back in 2005, serving a six-month ban for his role in the scheme.

He was officiating in the second tier of the German Bundesliga at the time when he accepted a €300 ($323) bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer to turn a blind eye to certain decisions while acting as a linesman.

six-month ban was kept a secret as no trial was necessary following his guilty plea

Zwayer eventually came clean and reported Hoyzer to the authorities. His six-month ban was kept a secret as no trial was necessary following his guilty plea, with soccer fans simply thinking that he was put on leave for appearing as a witness in the case.

Hoyzer ultimately got a lifetime ban from the sport and served almost two and a half years in prison for assisting Croatia-based criminals with their €2m ($2.16m) match-fixing scheme.

Details of Zwayer’s infractions only came to light in 2014 when a local newspaper got its hands on confidential files regarding the matter. He had been named as the Referee of the Year a few months before the details of his true involvement in the scandal came to the public’s attention. Zwayer has managed to bounce back and is now part of UEFA’s top tier of referees.