Dortmund ‘deeply regrets’ violence against Leipzig fans

Borussia Dortmund’s top officials have promised to crack down on fan violence after six Leipzig supporters, four police officers and a police dog were injured before Saturday’s Bundesliga game.

“Dortmund will do everything to clear up the wrongdoing of our own supporters and to sanction them hard within the realms of possibility,” Dortmund president Reinhard Rauball and CEO HansJoachim Watzke said in a joint statement yesterday.

“To put it clearly, whoever cannot express his opinion through argument but only through brute force and clumsy insults, can't, shouldn’t and will not be part of the Dortmund family.”

Dortmund police filed 28 charges for breaches of the law concerning explosives, assault, dangerous bodily injury, damage to property and theft after Leipzig supporters were pelted with stones and cans by Dortmund fans as they approached the stadium. Four police officers and a police dog were injured, the police said in a statement

“Dortmund strongly condemns this violence,” the club said on its website yesterday.

Dortmund police said they were forced to use batons and pepper spray to prevent the situation from escalating.

“All-in-all, extreme aggression and readiness for violence could be established among the Dortmund fans against the visitors. This was directed against any person who could be identified as a Leipzig fan, regardless of whether they were small children, women or families,” the police said.

Leipzig called the violence "unacceptable."

Earlier yesterday, Dortmund said it "deeply regrets" the violence and that it was cooperating with police. The club wished injured Leipzig fans a speedy recovery.

Dortmund won the game 1-0 thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's first-half header to go third behind Leipzig.