Borussia Dortmund said on Sunday they would stand with England midfielder Jude Bellingham after his team’s 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday after making explosive remarks about referees facing potential sanctions and even that faces legal consequences. “The boy is 18 years old and was speaking after a heated and emotional game. We will stand by him,” Dortmund sporting director Michael Zork told AFP subsidiary SID. Bellingham’s risk of being penalized by the German Football Federation (DFB) was expected after referee Felix Zwerk claimed costly decisions were implicated in the worst match-fixing scandal in German history.
The 18-year-old England international was furious that Zwyer had not awarded a penalty to his team in the second half, before giving one to Bayern, which allowed Robert Lewandowski the winner at the top of the table clash.
“You can see a lot of decisions in sports. If you give a referee who fixed the match before the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?” Bellingham told Norwegian channel Wyplay.
He was referring to Xaver’s alleged role as a 23-year-old linesman in a scandal involving referee Robert Hoyger.
The latter confessed to taking money from the Croatian Mafia in exchange for influencing the result of German Cup and Lower Division matches, including paying penalties for fictitious offences.
Hoezer was imprisoned and Zwer was suspended for six months for being silent, although he knew what the referee was doing and for accepting 300 euros ($340).
No definite link has been established between match-fixing and Zaver and he has always maintained that he was innocent.
possible sanctions
The DFB told AFP-supporting SID they would review whether Bellingham’s comments were “relevant from a sports ban perspective”.
“I don’t see anything problematic from a legal point of view,” Zorak told SID.
“What he said isn’t wrong, even if he doesn’t have to. You have to put it in front of the feelings of an 18-year-old. Jude didn’t insult anyone, he said a fact. I’m Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim “I can’t imagine there would be any punishment for this,” Watzke told Kicker magazine.
Bellingham could face a hefty sentence if the DFB decides to impose a ban, as the federation has previously held a dim view of referees making defamatory statements or allegations they consider offensive. .
The England midfielder also faced criticism for his comments, which Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn called “a step too far”.
“I can’t remember a player ever commenting like this before,” Kahn told Sky on Saturday.
Bellingham were not the only ones questioning Zwer’s decisions in a heated game on Saturday evening.
Dortmund coach Marco Rose was shown a red card after arguing with Zver over the award of a penalty on 12 minutes’ time.
publicized
“His performance was not enough for a game of this level, he was overwhelmed. It was a great game, decided by the referee,” Zorc told SID.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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