Borussia Dortmund support Jude Bellingham after racist abuse

| 20 March 2021

Borussia Dortmund support Jude Bellingham after racist abuse

The 17-year-old had played in Dortmund's 2-2 draw at Bundesliga rivals Cologne on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham has received support from Borussia Dortmund and the Football Association after being the subject of social media abuse.

The 17-year-old had played in Dortmund's 2-2 draw at Bundesliga rivals Cologne on Saturday afternoon before sharing a screenshot on Instagram.

The post showed a number of comments on an earlier post which were highlighted by Bellingham, including monkey and faeces emojis, as well as a derogatory message about the player's mother.

The former Birmingham youngster posted the replies with a short message which read: "Just another day on social media..."

England tweeted their support after Jude Bellingham had revealed he had been targeted for abuse online. — **England** tweeted their support after Jude Bellingham had revealed he had been targeted for abuse online.

Bellingham made his England debut in November, becoming the third-youngest senior Three Lions international in the process.

He was also included in Gareth Southgate's squad last week for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers triple-header next week.

England tweeted: "We continue to be disgusted by the discriminatory abuse our players — and others across the game — are being subjected to online. Something needs to change. We stand with you, @BellinghamJude.

Dortmund – who signed the midfielder in July 2020 – retweeted the post and offered their support to Bellingham.

Jude Bellingham (left) had played for Borussia Dortmund earlier in the day. — Jude Bellingham (left) had played for Borussia Dortmund earlier in the day (Marius Becker/AP)

"We stand with you @BellinghamJude. Racism belongs nowhere #BorussiaVerdindet," they wrote.

Bellingham may not yet be able to link up with England when the squad assemble at St George's Park at the start of next week.

Regional Covid-19 regulations in Germany may prevent him joining up for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland.

Asked if he knew what part Bellingham could play this month, Southgate said last week: "We don't know. We've left him in the squad. At this moment in time it looks as though we won't be able to take him.

"The quarantine rules in Germany looked like they'll rule him out.

"But, as we're seeing, those rules can change so quickly and while we're still investigating what's possible we wanted to name him in the squad.

"We've got a really good relationship with Dortmund so no issues between us and the club."