Following the clash between German football club, Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director, Sebastian Kehl, and England player, Jobe Bellingham, the club’s management has placed an indefinite ban on members of players’ families visiting the team’s dressing room.
Dortmund said that the decision to place a ban on the young footballer’s family and other members of the squad is to prevent any rancour between the coaches, players, and non-members of the team, especially the players’ relatives.
The ban came after the confrontation occurred following Bellingham’s parents, Mark and Denise, expressed displeasure over the substitution of their son at halftime during his first Bundesliga game.
As gathered, the elder Bellingham had a lengthy and emotional discussion with Dortmund’s sporting director, Kehl, after their son was substituted during the game that ended 3-3 against St. Pauli.
Speaking on the situation yesterday, Dortmund’s managing director, Lars Ricken, played down the nature of the chat, insisting it was ‘not a problem’ but did confirm that an incident like this will not happen in the future, with family members now banned from that area.
“We got Jobe Bellingham because we really built a relationship of trust with the parents over the years. Now the family flew in especially for their son’s first Bundesliga game and wanted to meet Jobe after the game,”
“They stood in the hallway to the locker room and had an emotional conversation with Sebastian, which, however, is not a problem at all given this relationship.”
”In the future, though, we will ensure that players, coaches, and any officials don’t have access to the locker room area, so that we no longer get into trouble by commenting on such news. But today everything has been resolved – no drama,” Ricken said.
Dortmund led 3–1 with five minutes to play, but faltered after Filippo Mane’s dismissal left them with 10 men, conceding two late goals in the season opener.
The midfielder joined Dortmund in June after helping Sunderland win promotion from the Championship, signing a five-year deal.
His transfer fee, worth an initial £27.8m plus add-ons, set a new record for the Wearside club.
Despite the family connection, Jobe insisted at the time he had not crossed to Germany simply to follow in his elder brother Jude’s footsteps.
It would be recalled that the elder brother, Jude, spent three years at the German club before completing his blockbuster switch to the Spanish team, Real Madrid.
The Bundesliga game against Hamburg was Jobe’s sixth competitive outing for Dortmund.
