Football
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Players' union FIFPro says Dortmund game shouldn't have gone ahead

International players' union FIFPro has told Reuters that Borussia Dortmund's Champions League quarterfinal first-leg tie against Monaco should not have been played less than 24 hours after three explosions hit their team bus.

Two people were injured, including Dortmund defender Marc Bartra, after windows on the bus were shattered by the explosions as the bus drove to their stadium.

The union has also called for clearer guidelines should similar incidents occur in the future.

"Players are people first and their emotional state must be taken into account. This comes before any other consideration," FIFPro said.

"We believe the incident was serious enough to warrant a longer delay than 24 hours, irrespective of the challenges it would have posed for travelling fans and to adjust the match calendar.

"A revision of this incident needs to be carried out together with FIFPro and other key stakeholders to create clear guidelines on how to act in such extreme circumstances."

Dortmund lost the game 3-2 and afterwards manager Thomas Tuchel, midfielder Nuri Sahin and defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos were among those to suggest they were not in the right frame of mind to play so soon.

"We were never asked; we were informed by a text message that the UEFA made a decision in Switzerland. It felt lousy. And that sticks with us," Tuchel said.

"Minutes after the attacks, the only question was whether the game could go through or not. We were treated as if a beer can was thrown at the bus. It gives you a feeling of impotence.

"It will stick with us that we have to function and that everything else plays no role. We are outside of the bus, Marc [Bartra] gets driven away in an ambulance, and we are informed about the decision. It does not feel good."

However, the director general of the International Centre for Sport Security, Helmut Spahn, has said it was right to go ahead with the game so soon.

Meanwhile, Jesse Learoyd-Hill, the director of Elite Security Professionals, has told The Guardian that the Premier League and its clubs must improve their security in case they are targeted in a similar attack.

"We have been warning people of this since the Bataclan attack in Paris [in November 2015] and yet clubs are still only just reacting," Learoyd-Hill said. "Too many players and clubs wait until something happens and, when it does, only then decide it's time to react. Some clubs do have good security but the majority are just making plans after the events."

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