Borussia Dortmund accept partial stadium closure and fine

Borussia Dortmund have accepted their a partial stadium closure imposed by the German FA (DFB) after 10 RB Leipzig fans and four police officers were injured in clashes prior to their fixture on Matchday 19.

Several provocative banners were also shown prior to kick-off in the Südtribüne, one of which called for Leipzig’s sporting director, Ralf Rangnick, to hang himself as fans protested against the Red Bull owned club.

As well as closure of the south stand – vs Wolfsburg, Dortmund were also imposed with a €100,000 fine, of which they have accepted.

“Borussia Dortmund’s acceptance of the DFB supervisory committee’s demand for a penalty is based on our conviction that in the still emotional, loaded atmosphere at present, it is neither possible nor reasonable to conduct a substantial debate about ‘suitable’, ‘necessary’, ‘proportionate’ or ‘far-sighted’ punishment in the judicial sense,” the statement read.

“In addition we see the danger that BVB’s rejection of the penalty or parts of it could be misinterpreted as a lack of insight from the club into the flagrant misbehaviour of some of the fans. That impression would be disastrous!

“At this point, however, we would like to express that we consider a collective punishment against 25,000 fans – of which the overwhelming majority can neither be accused of a deed or blamed – to be disproportionate.”

 

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