Dortmund’s Jude 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 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.

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.