DORTMUND, Germany (AP) 鈥� Borussia Dortmund says 鈥渄isproportionate鈥� police measures have prevented some of its fans from traveling to Italy for Wednesday鈥檚 Champions League game against Atalanta, while police in Italy have also visited supporters who already made the trip.
鈥淲hile a security-oriented risk assessment for a football match is understandable, Borussia Dortmund is more than surprised by the scope and scale of the police measures taken,鈥� the club said in a statement on Tuesday. 鈥淪uch measures, in this form and intensity, have never before been implemented in connection with Borussia Dortmund鈥檚 international away matches.鈥�
It said it was looking for further information on the 鈥渂ackground and legal basis of these measures, which are completely incomprehensible to the club.鈥�
The S眉dtribune Dortmund supporters鈥� group, which encompasses many smaller fan groups, had already announced earlier Tuesday that German police had stopped Dortmund supporters from traveling to Italy over the weekend, but that the prohibitions were successfully challenged in expedited proceedings.
However, because of the federal police鈥檚 search for up to 300 Dortmund fans whose presence in Bergamo has been banned for what S眉dtribune Dortmund said were 鈥渇limsy reasons,鈥� it was creating problems for all Dortmund fans hoping to make their way to the game.
S眉dtribune Dortmund said that its active groups therefore 鈥渉ave reluctantly decided to stay away from the match in Bergamo.鈥�
Dortmund, which holds a 2-0 lead over Atalanta from the first leg of their playoff, said in its statement that it 鈥渆xpressly regrets that some of its fans will not be able to attend the away game in Bergamo in the stadium due to this questionable behavior by the authorities.鈥�
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