Borussia
Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham was on Tuesday fined €40,000 by
the German Football Association for his “unsportsmanlike behavior” following
his match-fixing comments on referee Felix Zwayer after his side’s Bundesliga loss
to Bayern Munich.  

Bellingham was
critical of Zwayer’s decisions during the Der Klassiker on Saturday, referring to
the official’s six-month ban following a match-fixing scandal in 2005 to
question his appointment. Dortmund will not appeal the fine, according to the
BBC.

Zwayer
denied Dortmund’s penalty appeals before awarding a spot kick to Bayern for a handball
by defender Mats Hummels. Robert Lewandowski converted the penalty to give
Bayern a 3-2 win at the Signal Iduna Park.

Speaking to
Viaplae after the match, Bellingham said, “You give a referee, that has match
fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?”

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“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.”

Tempers
flared after referee awarded the decisive penalty to Bayern with Dortmund coach
Marco Rose shown a red card for dissent. The 45-year-old had to be carried away
by his coaching staff as he was infuriated by Zwayer’s decisions.

Dortmund had
backed the 18-year-old for his comments. “What he said isn’t wrong, even if he
didn’t have to say it. You have to put it down to the emotions of an
18-year-old. Jude didn’t insult anyone, he stated a fact,” CEO Hans -Joachim
Watzke told Kicker magazine.

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Referee Robert Hoyzer was jailed after confessing to taking mafia money in return for affecting the outcome of German Cup and lower division matches. Zwayer, who was a linesman then, was suspended for keeping silent despite knowing the referee’s actions. 

The win gave Bayern a four-point lead over Dortmund as they chase a record-breaking tenth successive Bundesliga title. Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund was the last side other than the Bavarians to win the league, back in the 2011-12 season.