Man Arrested After Climbing Roof During Euro 2024 Match to Take Photos

Police have reported that a man who climbed onto the roof of the stadium during the Euro 2024 match between Germany and Denmark intended to “take good photos.”

Footage from the Mail showed the man, dressed in black with his face covered and carrying a backpack, walking in the rafters of the Westfalenstadion, Borussia Dortmund’s home ground.

The man was noticed by police at the start of the second half of Saturday’s last-16 match at 10:11pm local time. This followed a temporary suspension of the game due to a lightning storm in the 35th minute.

Police, a drone, and a helicopter observed him before German special forces arrested him on a walkway at 11:44pm. He was handcuffed and searched, but no dangerous items were found.

Dortmund police stated that the 21-year-old from Osnabruck in north-west Germany was carrying a camera in his backpack. They assured that “at no point was there any danger to other people in the stadium” and ruled out political motivation.

“Initial investigations revealed that the man had previously attempted to take photos from high altitudes of prominent buildings in Herne in April 2022 and in Ulm in May 2024,” the police said in a statement.

During questioning on Sunday night, the man from Osnabruck claimed he only wanted to take “good photos.” Although he has been released from custody, the police have begun investigating a charge of trespassing.

Both the police and Uefa, European football’s governing body, will investigate how he managed to access the roof without being stopped.

Uefa praised the cooperation of the police, stadium, and local authorities during the incident in Dortmund and stated that security measures would be reviewed at all host venues to ensure safety “in the stadium, on the pitch, and at team facilities.”

Germany’s 2-0 win advanced them to the quarter-finals, where they will face Spain or Georgia on Friday.

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