German Police Foil Attempted Bombing Of Borussia Dortmond’s Signal Iduna Park

According to a wire report German police have detained a 25 year-old man suspected of planning a bomb attack on Signal Iduna Park (more commonly known as the Westfalenstadion), the stadium used by Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund. Three explosive devices were found and defused near the stadium by the German Federal Crime Office and three more were located in the suspect’s Dortmund apartment. A bombing would have severely disrupted the Bundesliga season - the Westfalenstadion holds over 80,000 people and any attack during a game could have had disastrous consequences.

The plot came to light thanks to an anonymous email to the German embassy in Pakistan which warned of potential coordinated attacks - the sender was located, detained on an unrelated crime, and disclosed the details of the Dortmund attacks. Fortunately the police were able to catch the alleged bomber, who had previously been implicated in a 2010 corporate extortion case, before any major damage could be done. The plot, though, is a worrying reminder that there’s a world outside of football, and that perhaps it isn’t quite as safe as we’d like. Well done to the police in this case for preventing what could have been a deadly incident.