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Soccer

Dortmund CEO considered withdrawing from Champions League

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Policemen search for evidence in Dortmund, Germany, Friday, April 14, 2017. After the attack on the team bus of Borussia Dortmund soccer club Tuesday, April 11, 2017, the used explosives and the ignition mechanism are in the focus of the investigations (Caroline Seidel/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

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    Dortmund's Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Roman Weidenfeller, Matthias Ginter and Julian Weigl, from left, react after losing 2-3 during the Champions League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and AS Monaco in Dortmund, Germany, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this April 11, 2017 file photo police officers stand in front of Dortmund's damaged team bus after explosions which injured two people before the Champions League quarterfinal soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and AS Monaco in Dortmund, western Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke considered withdrawing the club from the Champions League following Tuesday's attack on its team bus.

Watzke tells Der Spiegel magazine, "I briefly considered whether we should pull out of the competition completely. But then it would have been a victory for the perpetrators."

He says the attack wasn't just an attack on Dortmund "but rather an attack on the Federal Republic of Germany."

Defender Marc Bartra and a police officer were wounded when three explosions hit the team bus as it was leaving for the stadium ahead of the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Monaco.

Investigators are examining a number of claims of responsibility, the latest containing far-right rhetoric. Links to Islamic extremism and left-wing radicals are also being probed.