Borussia Dortmund defends Jude Bellingham’s match-fixing comment
The extreme comments of Dortmund and English midfielder Jude Bellingham has everyone’s attention. According to AFP, the 18-year-old made some explosive comments regarding the referee after his side lost a heated match against Bayern Munich on Saturday.
The German club, however, stands in solidarity with their player. In a release, Dortmund sporting director said, “the boy is 18-year-old and was speaking after a heated and emotional game. We will stand by him”
In a conversation with Viaplay, a Norwegian channel, Bellingham said, “You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game. If you give a referee who has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?”
In his comment, Bellingham referred to referee Zwayer’s alleged involvement in a scandal in which referee Robert Hoy was found guilty of affecting the outcome of a German lower division game after receiving a bribe from the Croatian Mafia. Zwayer was the linesman in that game and was alleged to have been a part of the fixing. Following which he was suspended for six months.
Bayern Munich, on the other hand, found the comments very offending. While commenting on the statement, their CEO called it a “step too far.” DFB has told AFP that they will be looking into the case. If found guilty of breaching any legal code of conduct, Bellingham will face heavy punishment.
