Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Joachim Low: Borussia Dortmund's RB Leipzig remarks didn't help

Germany head coach Joachim Low has criticised the Borussia Dortmund hierarchy for making negative comments about RB Leipzig in the months prior to the fan violence on Saturday.

Ahead of Dortmund's home Bundesliga meeting with Leipzig, several fans and police officers were injured by a group of BVB supporters. A Dortmund fan alliance had said in the days prior to the game that they felt they had to "make it perfectly clear that we condemn the construct RasenBallsport [RB Leipzig] and the football they embody." 

The incidents before the game, and the display of derogatory banners inside the Westfalenstadion, have prompted calls for action to be taken to end the culture of violence, while the Dortmund hierarchy have been accused of stoking the flames with their criticism of the Red Bull-founded club in recent months.

"You could be more thoughtful and careful with your statements in the build-up," Low said at the New Year's Reception in Lower Saxony on Tuesday. "I won't mention any names, but saying 'club of cans' and so on certainly does not help to quieten the atmosphere. The opposite is the case."

In November, Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said Leipzig were playing simply "to promote a canned drink," although he has always said in interviews that he respects their performance on the pitch.

Christian Heidel, the sporting director of Dortmund's fierce rivals Schalke, came out in support of Watzke on Tuesday.

"What happened at Dortmund is bad. But Aki [Watzke] never asked the fans to behave badly," Heidel told reporters on Tuesday. "To draw a link now to Aki's criticism of Leipzig is not OK. To my mind, that's a no-go."

He urged Leizpig to end the accusations, saying: "Something has to come out of Leipzig's corner to say that those things are not connected."

Meanwhile am Rheinlanddamm... ✌️�� #bvb #dortmund #schwatzgelb #bvbbsc #dfbpokal

A photo posted by Peter Flore (@pflore) on

Meanwhile, Dortmund fanzine schwatzgelb.de has invited supporters to print out and display cardboard signs reading "I'm for Borussia, football, peaceful fan culture, AGAINST VIOLENCE!" at the Westfalenstadion for Wednesday's DFB Pokal game at home to Hertha Berlin.

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