Police investigate Bellingham referee comments after Bayern loss
German police are investigating Jude Bellingham’s comments on referee Felix Zwayer after Borussia Dortmund’s loss to Bayern Munich, according to Sky in Germany.
Bellingham hit out at the performance of Zwayer during the 3-2 defeat as Dortmund were left frustrated after the referee turned down appeals for a penalty – only to award Bayern one for a Mats Hummels handball.
Robert Lewandowski stepped up and scored what proved to be the winner against his old club, in front of a restricted attendance at Signal Iduna Park.
And after the game Bellingham told ViaPlay: “You give a referee, that has fixed a match before, the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?
“For me, it wasn’t [a penalty]. He [Hummels] is not even looking at the ball and he’s fighting to get it and it hits him.
“You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game.”
Dortmund boss Marco Rose was also sent to the stands after criticising the Bayern penalty award, which came following a VAR review in the 77th minute.
England international Bellingham was referring to Zwayer’s six-month ban by the German FA in 2005 following a match-fixing scandal.
Defending his decisions, Zwayer told Sky Germany: “The situation was a standard corner kick.”
“I see in the game that it’s about a touch by Hummels. The question for me was: Is the arm stretched away from the body or not? In real time, it was not clear whether his arm was moved towards the ball.
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“I checked it with [VAR officials] in Cologne and then the arm position was checked.
“The video assistant made an assessment for himself and said that Hummels had his arm away from the body in an unnatural position.
“In the end, he clearly deflected the ball with his elbow and I came to the decision that it was a penalty.”
A criminal complaint has now been filed and the case will be forwarded to the Dortmund public prosecutor’s office who will determine whether there will be any criminal charges against Bellingham with a decision expected later on this week.
Earlier in the second half, Dortmund captain Marco Reus went down in the box following a challenge by Lucas Hernandez but no VAR referral was forthcoming on that occasion.
“It was a contact in the upper body area, which is allowed to happen even at high speed,” Zwayer added.
“The situation is not black and white, I decided against the penalty because of my line of sight.”
