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Football

05th Dec 2021

Jude Bellingham could face ban for comments on referee Felix Zwayer

Callum Boyle

Bellingham launched a scathing attack after Zwayer awarded a controversial penalty in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich

The German Football Association are investigating into comments made by Jude Bellingham after Borussia Dortmund’s defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday night, which could see the youngster banned.

Bellingham launched a verbal attack on referee Felix Zwayer after he awarded Bayern a controversial penalty which ended up being the winner after Robert Lewandowski dispatched from 12 yards.

Angered by the decision, the 18-year-old went on an extraordinary post-match rant in which he said: “Well for me it wasn’t [a penalty] you know.

“He [Mats Hummels] is not even looking at the ball and he’s fighting to get it.

“It hits him and I don’t even think he’s looking at the ball but you know 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 allegation Bellingham referred to related to referee Zwayer being banned for six months after accepting a bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer during a betting and match fixing scandal which happened in 2005.

Zwayer eventually returned after the German FA were satisfied he has suffered a sufficient punishment and has officiated games ever since.

But according to German outlet Bild, Bellingham’s comments may lead to him being suspended after referee observer Marco Haase filed a charge against the midfielder for his post-match interview.

Haase has also reportedly filed a charge against former German referee Manuel Grafe, who has previously been critical of the decision to allow Zwayer to return to officiating, and believes his words may have influenced Bellingham.

As per the MailOnline, Grafe has been previously quoted as saying: “Anyone who has ever accepted money and kept Hoyzer’s manipulation secret for six months should not be a professional football referee.”

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