Foreign Affairs

Athletes On ISIS ‘Death List’ After German Soccer Team Is Targeted

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German police are investigating Islamist extremism as a possible motive behind the Tuesday bombing of German soccer team Borussia Dortmund’s team bus, German media report.

Three “serious explosions” explosions went off by the team bus as the players were about to head to the stadium for the Champions League quarterfinal against AS Monaco. Spanish defender Marc Bartra broke his wrist as a result of the explosions and had to go to the hospital. (RELATED: Three ‘Serious Explosions’ Target German Soccer Team)

A letter left behind close to the scene suggests an Islamist background to the attack. Police are working on confirming the authenticity of the letter.

The letter starts with “In the name of Allah the merciful” and goes on to address Chancellor Angela Merkel directly.

“You obviously aren’t bothered about your dirty little subjects,” the letter reads, according to Die Welt. “Your Tornados continue to fly over the ground of the Caliphate to murder Muslims.”

The letter further states sports stars and public figures “in Germany and other crusader nations” are on a “death list of Islamic State,” tabloid Bild reports.

The threat against public figures will last until German planes are withdrawn from the war zone in Syria and the U.S. air base at Ramstein is closed, the letter declares.

“We have to assume this is a targeted attack on the BVB team,” police president Gregor Lange said at a press conference after the attack. “We searched the crime scene from the air [to look] for further bombings. We decided at an early stage not to rule out anything.”

The Champions League is the world’s top club competition in soccer. Dortmund has been one of Europe’s top teams in recent years and it made the final in 2013.

The match against AS Monaco was rescheduled for Wednesday night.

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