August 27 – Parental involvement has usually been the battleground in youth football; however, it is becoming more prevalent in the professional game. First we had the Reynas and then the Pulisics in the United States, and now even English parents are getting in on the act with the Bellinghams.
On Saturday, Mark Bellingham, father to Jude (Real Madrid) and Jobe (Borussia Dortmund), caused a scene in a restricted area at the Millerntor-Stadion, the home of St. Pauli.
Bellingham had traveled from England to watch his son make his debut for Dortmund; however, he was unhappy after Jobe had been substituted at halftime and demanded to know why in his confrontation with Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund’s Sporting Director.
Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken would not comment on the nature of the discussion when asked on Sunday but told Sky TV there would be consequences.
“I wasn’t present for the talk,” Ricken, who announced that only players, coaches and officials would have access to the locker room areas in future, said. “We’ll ensure that we don’t get into a furore again by commenting on such matters.”
“We got Jobe Bellingham because we built a trusting relationship with the parents over years,” Ricken said. “Now the family came especially over from England for their son’s first Bundesliga game and wanted to meet Jobe after the match at the bus. Then they stood at the entrance to the locker room and also spoke emotionally with Sebastian, which isn’t a problem at all based on the relationship. Everything was cleared up already today.”
Kehl told the Bild tabloid the day before that “the active area is and stays restricted for players, coaches and officials, not families or agents. That won’t happen again. That’s what we’ve clearly told all the parties involved.”
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