Schmelzer: Details of Dortmund attack will help players

Borussia Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer says learning the details of police allegations in relation to an attack on the team’s bus before the Champions League tie against Monaco is important in the players’ attempts to come to terms with the incident.

The Federal Prosecutor’s office in Germany confirmed on Friday that a 28-year-old man of dual German and Russian nationality, identified as ‘Sergej W’, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder, causing an explosion and infliction dangerous bodily harm.

Letters found at the scene of the crime with apparent “links to so-called Islamic State” initially prompted police to focus on “two suspects from the Islamist spectrum”, but the Federal Prosecutor’s office alleges that ‘Sergej W’ was motivated by financial gain after buying 15,000 shares in the club.

Three blasts occurred as the bus was travelling to Signal Iduna Park for the quarter-final first-leg tie on April 11, with defender Marc Bartra requiring surgery on his right wrist as a result of the attack.

A statement from Schmelzer on the club’s official website read: “We hope we will learn all the background to this attack. For everybody who sat in that bus this information is important as it makes it easier for us to deal with it.”

Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and president Reinhard Rauball added in a joint-statement: “The investigations by prosecutors and police have been intensive and with high priority. 

“We would like to thank them for that massively and hope that with this suspect the responsible person for the horrible attack on our team and staff has been found.

“We received incredible support over the last days and that gave us much strength.”