Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Dortmund fans say #bedforawayfans a 'victory for humanity'

DORTMUND -- Borussia Dortmund fans have opened their doors to stranded Monaco supporters after their Champions League match was called off after the BVB team bus was targeted by three blasts.

Several Monaco fans were left stranded in Dortmund after the quarterfinal first leg was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday. They had initially planned to make the 746-mile trip back home by coach following the final whistle.

Fabian Rustemeier, one of the creators of the #bedforawayfans hashtag which circulated on social media after the game was postponed, told ESPN FC how he made his way up to the Westfalenstadion with a friend when reports of an incident involving the Dortmund team bus first reached them.

"We stopped at a Bude [a place where cold bottles of beer and soft drinks are sold out of the window] and had a beer," he said. "The game got called off and we remembered all the Monaco fans marching towards the stadium earlier that day. They came out in great numbers and it surprised us."

With the game postponed to the next day, Rustemeier and his friend, Simon Ballmann, wanted to help out.

"What to do with the evening? That was the big question. We had the idea to start something, to make sure the Monaco fans are OK," Ballmann told ESPN FC. "No matter which club, if I were in this situation on an away trip, I would just love to be offered something like that. It's not a world idea, it's just human."

"I am not even on Twitter," Ballmann added, and left the rest to Rustemeier.

"We came up with the hashtag #bedforawayfans," Rustemeier said, explaining how his second post on Twitter got picked up by a broader audience and then by the club themselves.

Rustemeier highlighted that it could have been anyone starting the campaign.

"It does not matter who started it. What matters is that it's a great victory for humanity that so many people, also from other clubs and some not even football fans, joined in and opened their doors," he said.

Dortmund supporter Rustemeier said he also hosted two Monaco supporters in his flat.

A group of Monaco fans from Dortmund's twin town Amiens slept in the home of local football team SUS Kaiserau, just outside Dortmund's city limits.

Jorg-Mischa Schumacher, who arranged the accommodation and slept outside in his car, told ESPN FC: "They received coffee, breakfast, coffee again, beers and were put on the train back to Dortmund. They'll get scarves from us at the stadium."

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