Borussia Dortmund have clamped down on their dressing room protocols by banning all family members from the area after Saturday’s reported incident involving Jobe Bellingham’s father.
Leading 3-1 at St Pauli in the 85th minute of their Bundesliga season-opener, Dortmund squandered their advantage to draw 3-3.
The tension around that result was only reportedly heightened by Bellingham’s parents, Mark and Denise, who left unhappy after seeing their son substituted off at half-time on his German top-flight debut and waited in the tunnel at full-time to confront the Dortmund hierarchy about it.
According to Sky Sports Germany (via Daily Mail) Mark, who also acts as his son’s advisor, held an emotional discussion with Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl.
The report claims Bellingham senior voiced his frustration over both the substitution and the team’s overall performance.
BILD added that Mark Bellingham sought a meeting with manager Niko Kovac directly – and ‘made no secret of his opinion.’
Some Dortmund players are also said to have noticed how emotional he was, with his anger reportedly fuelled by both his son’s early substitution and the disappointing display.
But speaking about the situation on Sunday evening, 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 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,” Ricken told Sky90 – The Football Debate.
“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 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.”
Nineteen-year-old Bellingham, who joined Dortmund this summer in a £32million move from Sunderland, started Saturday’s clash away at St Pauli but was withdrawn at the interval by Kovac after an ineffective first half.
Dortmund had looked in control with a 3-1 lead, only to concede twice in the final four minutes and leave Hamburg with a single point.
