Jude Bellingham has been fined £34,000 for his controversial comments about referee Felix Zwayer but escaped a ban.
A furious Bellingham did not hold back in his post-match TV interview after Dortmund’s Der Klassiker defeat by Bayern Munich.
After the match Bellingham let rip at Zwayer, making comments that are now being investigated by police after a criminal complaint was filed, according to Sky Germany.
Bellingham will be free to play in Dortmund’s game at Bochum on Saturday after the club and player accepted the punishment handed down by the German FA on Tuesday. The teenager is believed to earn around £42,000 a week.
A statement read: ‘The sports court of the German Football Association (DFB) fined Jude Bellingham 40,000 euros in single judge proceedings after the DFB control committee had brought charges for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
‘The player of Borussia Dortmund has already agreed to the judgement and the judgement is now final.’
Bellingham appeared to refer to Zwayer’s six month ban in 2005 for accepting a €300 bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer, the main architect of the match-fixing scandal.
German legend Lothar Matthaus has backed Bellingham, saying emotions must have been running high following the defeat and asked how an 18-year-old English player came to know so much about a match-fixing scandal that happened when he was still a baby.
Writing for Sky Sport Deutschland, Matthaus said: ‘Yes, Jude Bellingham’s words were out of place. Today, he might not say the same thing.
‘But I can understand his frustration and anger right after the game is over. The adrenaline and emotions are very difficult to control when losing such an important game to controversial decisions. But you don’t have to overdo it.
‘As far as I’m concerned, he should donate a fine to a charitable cause and it’s done with.
‘Anyway, I wonder how and 18-year-old English player knows Mr Zwayer’s past so well? Who gave him this before the interview?’
