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Updated December 5th, 2021 at 20:41 IST

Jude Bellingham under probe by DFB over ‘match-fixing’ remarks in Der Klassiker

The German FA (DFB) is investigating Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Jude Bellingham for his 'match-fixing' comments about the referee after loss to Bayern Munich

Reported by: Prithvi Virmani
Jude Bellingham
Image: AP | Image:self
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In a fiery Der Klassiker, Bayern Munich managed to get the better of Borussia Dortmund 3-2 at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. It was a closely contested match with some controversial moments taking place in between. However, the moment that changed the match was when Bayern was awarded a penalty for a handball by Mats Hummels in the 76th minute after the referee had a look at it via the VAR monitor. Robert Lewandowski stepped up and converted to give Bayern the win. Post-match, Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham spoke about the incident saying that it should not have been awarded a penalty and went on to say that the DFB should have thought twice before giving such a big game to a referee who had been charged for match-fixing.

"For me, it wasn't (a penalty)," Bellingham told reporters after the game as quoted by Goal.com. "(Mats) Hummels isn't even looking at the ball, he's fighting to get it and it just sort of hits him, it hits him and I don't even think he's looking at the ball. 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?"

Referee Felix Zwayer was banned for six months when he was caught taking a bribe from referee Robert Hoyzer while he acted as an assistant during a 2. Bundesliga match involving Wuppertaler SV, one of several officials to receive punishment following an investigation held by the German FA.

DFB investigating Bellingham's comments

The head of the German FA's (DFB) control committee, Anton Nachreiner, told SID as quoted by Goal.com: "The control committee will examine the statement of the Borussia Dortmund player Jude Bellingham for its relevance to sports criminal law."

Dortmund director Michael Zorc defended the English midfielder and said: "The boy is 18, talking after a heated, emotional game," he said. "He names old facts, you don't have to do that. He's just a hot spur. The things are in the world now, but we stand by him. I don't see anything problematic in terms of criminal law."

Bayern CEO Oliver Khan, however, was far more assertive in his assessment of Bellingham, as he told Sky Germany: "I'm the last one who doesn't understand player emotions. That goes a huge step too far, of course. I don't remember any player saying that before. I don't know how he got the idea to make such a statement."

Image: AP

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Published December 5th, 2021 at 20:41 IST

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