Dortmund-Kiev benefit match raises €400,000
The official attendance tally for Tuesday evening's benefit match between Borussia Dortmund and Dynamo Kiev stood at 35,000.
The BVB announced net proceeds of €400,000 from the exhibition.
The BVB announced net proceeds of €400,000 from the exhibition.
Additional guests invited by the BVB included Ukrainian rock singer Julian Sanina, who performed the Ukrainian national anthem prior to kickoff. Sixteen-year-old Ivan Matviichuk was given to opportunity to recite the opening lineups alongside BVB stadium announcer Nobby Dickel. Kiev youth academy player Nikita Semenov, a 13-year-old resident of Berlin's SOS children's Village and a BVB fan, took the symbolic opening kickoff.
Both sides were allowed unlimited substitutions, meaning that virtually all of the BVB first-team regulars were allowed a chance to participate. With the exception of Jude Bellingham, all of the Dortmund players participating in the weekend fixture with Bayern, partook. Youngsters Tom Rothe and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens scored in the 2-3 loss.
The club announced that the total amount raised for refugee causes topped €400,000. This included the gate receipts, donations taken outside of the stadium, and a broadcast deal with German television station ZDF. This met with the expectations of Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke. The long-time sporting adminstrator had set a target just under that.
"It was immediately clear to us that we wanted to do this," BVB head coach Marco Rose noted afterwards, "It was about getting together and sending some unified messages. That's something we genuinely enjoy doing."
