Bellingham under investigation & could face SIX-MONTH ban
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 7 Dec 2021 08:12 CST
- 4 min read
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham could risk being banned from football for up to six months, following remarks he made after his side’s 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday.
The Bundesliga giants were narrowly defeated in the first “der Klassiker” of the season thanks to a VAR-reviewed late penalty for the reigning German champions, which Robert Lewandowski converted to make it 3-2 with 13 minutes left of the match.
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The late decision contrasted quite starkly with an earlier penalty claim for Dortmund, when Marco Reus was seemingly tripped by Lucas Hernandez in the Bayern box. But the referee, Felix Zwayer, didn’t opt to check it with VAR.
What did Bellingham say?
After the match, an apoplectic Bellingham struggled to hide his disgust at the referee’s decision making and made some blunt remarks.
"You give a referee, that has match fixed before, the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?” said the Dortmund midfielder in an interview with Norwegian TV station, Viaplay.
"For me, it wasn't [a penalty]. He [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."
Jude Bellingham hadde mye på hjertet etter «Der Klassiker».
Se hele intervjuet med @JanAageFjortoft her! 👀 pic.twitter.com/rvaRSDrZjp— Viaplay Fotball (@ViaplayFotball) December 4, 2021
What punishment could Bellingham now face?
The German FA have opened an investigation into Bellingham.
A statement on the German FA's official website said: "The control committee of the German Football Association (DFB) has initiated an investigation against Jude Bellingham.
"After the Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich on Saturday, the Borussia Dortmund player said in a TV interview about referee Felix Zwayer: 'You are giving a referee who has already fixed matches before the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?'
"As a first step, Bellingham was written to by the DFB control committee and asked to comment on his statement as soon as possible.
"After the opinion has been submitted and evaluated, the control committee will decide on the further progress of the procedure."
According to reports in Germany, a criminal complaint was filed by DFB referee observer Marco Haase against the Dortmund midfielder following the match, with Bellingham apparently defaming the association. But that’s unlikely to come to anything since Mr Zwayer himself hasn’t taken action.
German football magazine Kicker instead understands that Bellingham will be prosecuted by sports law within the German football system and could technically face a ban of up to six months for “unsportsmanlike conduct”.
However, as the magazine notes, such a ban is highly unlikely and it remains to be seen whether the midfielder will face any ban at all.
The most likely outcome will be a fine, with Bellingham almost certainly being handed a financial punishment that will exceed the previous record of €20,000, which was handed to Kevin de Bruyne in 2015 when he insulted a ball boy.
