Note suggests Islamic extremist motive for attack on team bus
DortMUND, GErMANy
A note left at the scene suggests a possible Islamic extremist motive for the attack on Borussia Dortmund’s team bus, and one suspect has been detained, German prosecutors said Wednesday.
Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors, said investigators are focusing on two suspected Islamic extremists and have searched their homes – but authorities said a range of other motives are possible for the Tuesday evening attack before a Champions League match. One of the Islamic suspects, a man, was arrested.
Investigators found three copies of the note at the scene, including demands for the withdrawal of German Tornado reconnaissance jets that are assisting the fight against the Islamic State group and for the closure of the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Koehler.
Federal prosecutors took over the case on the basis that a “terrorist background” is likely, but “the exact motive for the attack is still unclear,” Koehler said.
Because of the notes, “an Islamic extremist background to the attack appears possible.”
Three explosions went off near Dortmund’s bus as the team set off Tuesday evening from its hotel on the city’s outskirts for its Champions League quarterfinal match against Monaco.
They shattered a window of the bus – injuring Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra, who underwent surgery for injuries to his wrist and arm. Police said an officer accompanying the bus on a motorbike was suffering from blast trauma and shock.
The devices used in the attack contained metal pins, one of which buried its way into a headrest on the bus, Koehler said. Investigators are still working to determine how the devices were detonated and what substance was used.
The match was called off shortly before kickoff and rescheduled for Wednesday evening.
It was held under increased security, and the club said fans wouldn’t be allowed into the stadium with backpacks.
Koehler said investigators are evaluating the credibility of the claim of responsibility. Tobias Plate, a spokesman for Germany’s interior ministry, noted that notes claiming responsibility at the scene haven’t been a feature of past Islamic extremist attacks.
toroNto
Jeffrey Orridge’s tenure as Canadian Football League commissioner was a short but tumultuous one.
The league dropped a bombshell Wednesday by announcing Orridge and the CFL’s board of governors mutually agreed to part ways effective June 30. The stunning development comes just over two years after Orridge was hired amid much fanfare as the first African American chief executive of a major North American sports league.
No official reason was given for the move, but in a statement Orridge said he and the CFL’s board of governors didn’t see eye to eye on the league’s future. Orridge succeeded Mark Cohon, who spent eight years on the job.
“It has been an honour to serve as CFL Commissioner and help to prepare this historic league for the future by deepening our relationship with fans and sponsors, increasing its relevance with the next generation, and expanding our reach beyond Canada,” Orridge said. “While the Board and I have differing views on the future of the league, we both believe passionately in this game, its players, its partners and its fans.
“I wish the CFL great success in the future.”
The weight of expectation on Orridge’s shoulders was immediate. On the day he was formally unveiled as CFL commissioner, one of the first questions Orridge faced was how he was going to deal with the Toronto Argonauts’ muddled ownership issue.
Fortunately for Orridge, interim commissioner Jim Lawson
Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso will race for McLaren at the Indianapolis 500 on May
28 in a surprise switch that will see the Spanish driver miss the Monaco Grand Prix on the same day.
It will be Alonso’s first drive in the biggest car race in the United States as he steps up his bid to win what he regards as the “Triple Crown” of motor sport: the Monaco GP, the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Alonso The CFL has announced that the league and commissioner Jeffrey Orridge are parting ways, effective June 30.
– the league’s chairman – had pretty much negotiated the sale of the franchise in May 2015 to Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, and Bell, with the team relocating to a refurbished BMO Field last season.
Orridge did come under fire for the CFL’s fallout with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport that led to the league not having drug testing for more than a year. Ultimately a new policy was reached with the CFL Players’ Association and implemented in the collectivebargaining agreement.
Last November, Orridge drew widespread criticism when, in his Grey Cup address, he denied the existence of a link between playing football and the development of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
“It’s a tough challenge,” said the 35-year-old Alonso, who has twice won in Monaco and hasn’t competed at Le Mans. “But I’m up for it.”
McLaren made the announcement on Wednesday, saying the Monaco GP will be the only Formula One race that Alonso will miss. The British-based team hasn’t announced who will replace Alonso for the most glitzy race on the F1 calendar.
McLaren will be racing in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in 38 years. Its entry will be a Dallara DW12 chassis, run
(CTE). Orridge’s comments came months after Jeff Miller, the NFL’s top health and safety officer, acknowledged a link between football-related head trauma and brain disease, the first time a senior league official conceded football’s connection to CTE.
Following Miller’s admission, an American federal judge gave final approval to a US$1-billion class-action lawsuit settlement between the NFL and thousands of former players.
The CFL was named in a $200-million class-action lawsuit over concussions and brain trauma. But in March, a B.C. judge dismissed former player Arland Bruce III’s lawsuit against the league, Cohon, neuroscientist Dr. Charles Tator, the CFL Alumni Association and every team in the league. by the Andretti Autosport team headed by Michael Andretti - a former IndyCar champion who raced in Formula One for McLaren in 1993.
Alonso will fly to Indianapolis immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 14 to get in two weeks of IndyCar practice.
“I’ve never raced an IndyCar car before, and neither have I ever driven on a super-speedway, but I’m confident that I’ll get to grips with it fast,” he said.
“I’ve watched a lot of IndyCar action on TV and online, and it’s clear that great precision is required to race in close proximity with other cars on the far side of 220 mph.”