Dortmund’s Bellingham fined 40 000 euros for referee comments
The German Football Association (DFB) has fined Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham 40 000 euros ($45 008) for unsportsmanlike conduct after he criticised referee Felix Zwayer following Saturday’s Bundesliga defeat by Bayern Munich.
Zwayer had turned down Dortmund’s appeals for a penalty before awarding one to Bayern for a handball from Mats Hummels. Robert Lewandowski scored from the spot to give Bayern a 3-2 win and a four-point lead in the standings.
After the game, England international Bellingham said: “You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game. You give a referee, that has match-fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?”
The DFB said in a statement https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/40000-euro-geldstrafe-fuer-dortmunds-bellingham-235401 on Tuesday that Bellingham “doubted and ultimately denied the referee’s impartiality” with his comments. Both Dortmund and Bellingham have accepted the DFB’s verdict.
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Zwayer was named in a 2005 scandal involving referee Robert Hoyzer, who was jailed for fixing matches in a two million euro betting fraud.
The DFB had banned Zwayer for six months for accepting 300 euros from Hoyzer and agreeing to make incorrect decisions in a match when he was an assistant referee.