BORUSSIA DORTMUND have banned player families from the club’s dressing room.
It comes after Jobe Bellingham’s father tried to confront manager Niko Kovac after Jobe was subbed off at half-time of a 3-3 draw with St. Pauli.
Bellingham, who signed for the German side his brother played for before him in a £32million transfer from Sunderland this summer, had made his first Bundesliga start in the game.
Dortmund had led the Bundesliga opener 1-0 at half-time, before the 19-year-old was taken off.
St. Pauli equalised five minutes after the break before Kovac’s side raced into a 3-1 lead.
But with just five minutes of regular time left to play, they squandered the two-goal advantage to draw 3-3.
According to Sky Sports Germany, Bellingham’s dad, Mark, had been furious with the move to substitute him off at half-time and is said to have waited in the tunnel to confront the Dortmund hierarchy about it.
The report adds Mark was engaged in a passionate discussion with Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, voicing his frustration over both the move to hook his son and the overall team display.
BILD also claim Bellingham Sr. “made no secret of his opinion” and had sought a meeting directly with Kovac, while some Dortmund players noticing how angry he was.
In response, the club have now clamped down on dressing room protocol by banning all family members from the area.
The move was confirmed by Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken, who tried to play down the nature of the emotional discussions which took place.
Speaking to Sky90 – The Football Debate, he said: “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 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.”
On the performance itself, a disappointed Kovac said: “When you lead 3-1, then you cannot play a 3-3 even against this very good St Pauli team.”
Bellingham has insisted his move to Dortmund is not to simply follow in his older brother’s footsteps, with Jude now starring for Real Madrid under the watchful eye of mum, Denise.
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