Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke claimed that the club "considered withdrawing from this season’s Champions League after a bomb attack" on its team bus left defender Marc Bartra hospitalized, according to Luke Brown of the London INDEPENDENT. In the wake of the incident, UEFA decided to postpone the fixture "until the following night," claiming that the decision had been made in "cooperation and complete agreement with the clubs and authorities." However, the decision to reschedule the match "so soon after the explosives attack" was widely criticized. Watzke said that he "momentarily considered withdrawing his team from the competition completely," as his players "struggled to cope with what had happened." He said, "I briefly considered whether we should not just leave the competition completely. But then it would have been a victory for the perpetrators." Watzke also revealed that he stood up and addressed the Dortmund players after the attack and "told them that they did not have to play against Monaco if they did not want to" (INDEPENDENT, 4/15). The AP reported Watzke said that what happened was "not just an attack" on Dortmund "but rather an attack on the Federal Republic of Germany" (AP, 4/15).
FIFPRO SPEAKS OUT: REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported FIFPro said that Borussia Dortmund "should not have played so soon after Tuesday's attack" and wants "clear guidelines on dealing with similar incidents should they happen in the future." FIFPro said that the game "could have been delayed for longer, regardless of any knock-on effect to the fixture list." The organization said, "Players are people first and their emotional state must be taken into account. This comes before any other consideration. We believe the incident was serious enough to warrant a longer delay than 24 hours, irrespective of the challenges it would have posed for travelling fans and to adjust the match calendar" (REUTERS, 4/13).
CLOSE CALL: ESPN.com's Stephan Uersfeld reported on Sunday, German tabloid Bild reported that the attack "could have caused major harm to the Dortmund team." One investigator said, "If the bombs had been fired around one second earlier, the bus would have taken the full load. Then there would have certainly been several severely injured and maybe even dead people." Bild added that the investigators are "following several leads, ranging from those with Islamist background, far-left and far-right backgrounds to the involvement of hooligans or even the betting mafia." One unnamed investigator quoted by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag said that explosives used in last Tuesday's attack could "possibly be from German army stocks" (ESPN.com, 4/17).
