Borussia Dortmund CEO for sport, Lars Ricken, has confirmed that an “emotional conversation” took place between Jobe Bellingham’s father, Mark, and Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund’s sporting director, following the club’s 3-3 draw with St.Pauli on Saturday.
Bellingham made his Bundesliga debut at the Millerntor-Stadion but was substituted by head-coach Niko Kovac at half-time. Dortmund led at the break, but the game finished as a 3-3 draw, with St.Pauli scoring twice in the final five minutes of normal time to rescue a point.
Ricken confirmed a discussion took place in the corridoor of the dressing room at full time and said the club will subsequently look at locker room access.
Ricken, who has been CEO for sport since May 2024, played the incident down, telling Sky DE: “We were able to sign Jobe Bellingham because we have 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 (Kehl), which, however, is not a problem at all given this relationship.
“In the future, though, we will ensure that only 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.”
The Athletic has contacted the Bellingham camp for comment.
Speaking on Sunday, Kehl told German tabloid Bild: “We are all disappointed with yesterday’s result, but that area is and remains reserved for players, coaches, and management, not families and advisors. That won’t happen again. We have clearly informed everyone involved of this.”
Bellingham joined Dortmund from Sunderland in the summer in a deal worth up to €38million.
(Photo: Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)