As police in Germany "work to find those responsible for Tuesday's attack," German media "voiced concern for the game's hasty rearrangement, as well as noting the stoic defiance shown by the club, its supporters and the wider footballing community," according to the London GUARDIAN. Oliver Fritsch, writing for Die Zeit, observed the Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund fans inside Signal Iguna Park after club CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and President Reinhard Rauball "had to explain the hard to explain" from pitchside. After the announcement was made that the Champions League quarterfinal first leg between Borussia Dortmund and Ligue 1 side Monaco was to be postponed for 24 hours, one fan, Jürgen, said, "How can you decide the game will be played tomorrow so quickly? It's just money -- who is thinking about the players?" Bild's football section "echoes the former opinion," asking the question, "How can BVB play football today?" In Welt, Oliver Rasche's piece -- headed "How? The game must not take place today!" -- said that the rescheduling was "sportingly and humanly unacceptable." Rasche continued, "Who can tell if more is planned? The game should not take place 24 hours later." Frederick Ahrens, writing for Hamburger Morgenpost, added, "The show must go on: but not today! Is it really to be expected for these professionals, who were anxiously cowering on the ground of their bus, who knew that a colleague was injured, to put their concentration 100% on football?" (GUARDIAN, 4/12).
BAD TIMING: In London, Mark Dobson wrote Dortmund Manager Thomas Tuchel "angrily criticized UEFA" over the rescheduling of the game one day after the bombing. Tuchel: "We were informed by text message that UEFA was making this decision. We would have liked more time to take stock. This gives you the feeling of impotence, that we have to keep functioning and nothing else matters." Midfielder Nuri Sahin offered "an emotional insight" on how the players had been affected. Sahin: "We love football, we suffer with football, we love football. I know we earn a lot of money and have a privileged life but we are human beings. There is so much more than football in this life and last night we felt it" (
GUARDIAN, 4/12). ESPN.com's Ian Holyman reported the Prince of Monaco, Albert II, said that the game "should be postponed to a later date." Albert II said that "the severity of the incident had merited further delay." Albert II: "Sport mustn't be taken hostage by madmen, because there are no words to describe these unbalanced people while we wait to learn of their motives. It's beyond football, it's disgusting and horrible. It's perhaps not the best solution to play the day after an incident of such a scale" (
ESPN.com, 4/12).
