Who is the referee for Club Brugge v Rangers? 'Scandal' linked official confirmed for UCL tie plus VAR details

Already 3-1 down from the disastrous home leg at Ibrox, Russell Martin’s side require a performance for the ages in order to turn the tie around, with their qualification hopes hanging by a thread after last week’s capitulation in Govan.

Their underwhelming 1-1 draw with St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership at the weekend has done little to raise the spirits of the Gers faithful, with the Glasgow giants having their worst start to a league season since 1985 under their new head coach. With the doom and gloom currently surrounding the club, can they do the unthinkable in Belgium - or is another night of disaster on the horizon?

Ahead of the game, we look at who UEFA has confirmed as the match officials for Wednesday’s game at the Jan Breydel Stadium:

Who is the referee for Club Brugge v Rangers?

The man in the middle for the game will be German referee Felix Zwayer, who has officiated in the Champions League, Europa League, and several UEFA competitions. He has taken charge of 518 matches in his career. He has awarded a total of 2,088 yellow cards (4.03 average per game) and 39 red cards (0.075 average per game).

Zwayer’s average is higher in the Champions League, awarding an average of 5.3 yellow cards per match. While he has taken charge of high-profile games such as last season’s Europa League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in May and the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands, his reputation is polarising due to an incident in 2005. His reputation is heavily influenced by his involvement in a 2005 match-fixing scandal centred around referee Robert Hoyzer.

Aged just 19, Zwayer is said to have accepted a €300 bribe from Hoyzer while they officiated a 2. Bundesliga match between Wuppertaler SV and Werder Bremen II. One of four referees who would later report Hoyzer to the German FA, he received a six-month suspension, though this punishment was not made public until it was exposed by Hamburg-based publication Die Zeit almost a decade later.

Despite his suspension, Zwayer denied that he had taken part in match-fixing, rejecting the claim that he accepted the offer from ex-referee Hoyzer to alter match outcomes, and instead reported it to the relevant parties. His relatively short ban is said to have been partly in recognition of his role as a whistle-blower.

However, the controversy has continued to follow him, and he was famously criticised by England international Jude Bellingham, while playing for Borussia Dortmund, who publicly scolded Zwayer following a controversial Bayern Munich v Dortmund match in Germany. In his post-match comments, Bellingham said: “You give a referee who has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?” He was fined for the comments by the German FA, with Zwayer taking a two-month break from refereeing.

Has he ever taken charge of a Rangers game?

Zwayer has never taken charge of a Rangers match as a referee. However, he did serve as the VAR official for Rangers' 4-3 win over Antwerp in February 2021. During the game, VAR was used three times.

First, a potential penalty for Rangers was checked for a handball early in the game but not awarded. Second, a controversial penalty was then awarded to Antwerp after Steven Davis was adjudged to have fouled Lior Refaelov, a decision confirmed by VAR despite many claiming there was minimal contact. Finally, it was used for a third time when were awarded a penalty after VAR prompted a review of a foul from Ritchie De Laet on Alfredo Morelos, which was awarded and converted by Borna Barisic.

Club Brugge v Rangers VAR and match officials

Zwayer will be assisted by an all German teams of officials, which include Robert Kempter and Christian Dietz as assistant referees, with Florian Badstübner as the fourth official. On VAR duties it will be Christian Dingert, and he will be assisted by Johann Pfeifer.

Sign up to The Scotsman’s daily football newsletter to get unrivalled Scottish football news and analysis - subscribe for free here.