Image source, Getty Images
Police say a man who climbed on to the roof of the stadium during the Euro 2024 match between Germany and Denmark “wanted to take good photos”.
Video from the Mail showed a man – dressed in black, his face covered and wearing a backpack – walking in the rafters of the Westfalenstadion, the home of Borussia Dortmund.
The man was spotted by police during the start of the second half of Saturday’s last-16 match at 10:11pm local time, after the game was temporarily suspended because of a lightning storm in the 35th minute.
He was observed by officers, a drone and a helicopter before being arrested by German special forces on a walkway at 11.44pm. He was handcuffed and searched but no dangerous objects were found.
Dortmund police said the 21-year-old from Osnabruck in north-west Germany was carrying a camera in his backpack.
They said “at no point was there any danger to other people in the stadium” and that they are “currently ruling out a political motivation”.
“Initial investigations revealed that the man had already wanted to take photos of prominent buildings at great heights in Herne in April 2022 and in Ulm in May 2024,” the police said in a statement.
“During questioning by the police on Sunday night, the man from Osnabruck stated that he only wanted to take ‘good photos’.”
Police have begun investigating a charge of trespassing, although the man has been released from custody.
The police and Uefa, European football’s governing body, will investigate how he got on to the roof without being stopped.
“Uefa would like to commend the police, stadium and local authorities for their co-operation in the incident last night in Dortmund,” it said in a statement.
Uefa added security measures will be “reviewed in all host venues” following the incident, with safety “in the stadium, on the pitch, and at team facilities” the “ultimate priority”.
Germany’s 2-0 win took them through to the quarter-finals, where they will play Spain or Georgia on Friday.