Football
Associated Press 7y

Watzke considered taking BVB out of Champions League after bus attack

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has told Der Spiegel he considered withdrawing the club from the Champions League following Tuesday's team bus attack.

An investigation is under way after three explosions hit the Borussia Dortmund team bus as it drove to their home stadium for a Champions League match against Monaco, injuring defender Marc Bartra and causing the game to be postponed for 24 hours.

Monaco won the rearranged game 3-2 on Wednesday evening, although Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel was angry that it had been played so soon.

Watzke said: "I briefly considered whether we should pull out of the competition completely. But then it would have been a victory for the perpetrators."

He said what happened was not just an attack on BVB "but rather an attack on the Federal Republic of Germany."

Investigators are examining a number of claims of responsibility, the latest containing far-right rhetoric.

Links to Islamist extremism and left-wing radicals are also being probed.

On Thursday, the Federal Prosecutor's office in Germany said there was no evidence to link a suspect who was detained in connection with the blasts to the attack.

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