Borussia Dortmund's Future: New Sports Hall and Injury Concerns
Borussia Dortmund are reshaping their future on and off the pitch – with concrete, with kids, and with concern over a key striker’s ankle – against the sombre backdrop of a supporter’s death that has shaken the club.
A new hall in the shadow of the Westfalenstadion
The project has been talked about for years. Now Borussia Dortmund are ready to build it themselves.
Close to the Westfalenstadion, the club plans to construct a new multi-purpose hall, a home for elite sport under the BVB umbrella. According to Ruhr Nachrichten, the investment is expected to land between €15 and €20 million, with the women’s handball team and the table-tennis department set to be the main tenants.
This is not a sketch on the back of a napkin. Dortmund have already commissioned a planning firm to run a feasibility study and produce concrete designs. Talks with the city over purchasing and using the site are pencilled in for May – a decisive month for a project that would further tighten the club’s grip on the sporting landscape of the city.
“We have decided at board level, and I am delighted about this and looking forward to it, that we will attempt to build the long-awaited sports hall ourselves,” said club president Hans-Joachim Watzke, quoted by Ruhr Nachrichten. His vision is clear: “Everything relating to elite sport here in Dortmund should be concentrated there. The parking spaces are there, and the infrastructure for public transport is in place.”
For a club that has turned its stadium into a global landmark, the hall is another statement: BVB are not just a football team, but a multi-sport institution that wants its top performers under one roof – and within sight of the Yellow Wall.
Guirassy scare clouds trip to Hoffenheim
On the training pitch, the mood was very different.
Serhou Guirassy, one of Dortmund’s central attacking figures, was forced out of Tuesday’s training session. Social-media footage showed the striker struggling after around an hour of work, his movement clearly hampered before he left the field with his ankle bandaged.
The problem came after a sliding tackle from centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, who appeared to catch Guirassy’s ankle. Treatment was immediate. Guirassy received attention on the pitch, then limped off towards the dressing room, leaving coaches and teammates with an unwelcome question mark ahead of the weekend.
Dortmund travel to TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday. As things stand, there is no clarity over whether Guirassy will be fit in time. For a side already under pressure after the 0-1 home defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the prospect of losing their striker is the last thing they needed.
Kabar at a crossroads
While the club plans a new building, the future of one of its young defenders looks far less secure.
BVB will soon sit down with Almugera Kabar to discuss what comes next. Ruhr Nachrichten reports that the hierarchy intends to meet the 19-year-old shortly to outline his role, but indications from within the club suggest he is unlikely to remain beyond the summer.
On paper, his numbers at reserve level are impressive. Playing as a left-back for the second team in the Regionalliga West, Kabar has scored six goals in 16 appearances and added an assist – standout attacking output for his position.
First-team chances, though, have been scarce. So far in the 2025/26 season, he has made just one appearance, coming on for Julian Ryerson for the final 15 minutes of last weekend’s 0-1 loss to Leverkusen. For a teenager looking to break through at senior level, that is a thin platform to build on.
Dortmund must now decide: is Kabar part of the next generation in black and yellow, or another talent who will have to seek his breakthrough elsewhere?
Tragedy on the Südtribüne
All of these sporting questions feel smaller when set against what happened on Saturday.
The Borussia Dortmund supporter who received emergency resuscitation at Signal Iduna Park during the match against Bayer Leverkusen has died, the club confirmed on Tuesday. The man collapsed in the Südtribüne and was rushed to Dortmund Hospital, where he passed away later that day, Ruhr Nachrichten reported.
“It is with great sadness that Borussia Dortmund has learnt that the BVB fan who received emergency medical treatment at the stadium last Saturday has died,” the club wrote. “In these difficult hours, the thoughts of the entire BVB family are with his family and friends.”
The scenes inside the stadium were striking. A few minutes into the second half, both sets of supporters fell quiet as they became aware of the medical emergency unfolding in the stands. By the final whistle, the rivalry had faded; fans of both clubs united in a rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” a song that has become an anthem of solidarity in Dortmund.
A stadium announcement later informed those present that the fan had been resuscitated and taken to hospital. The news of his death has now cast a long shadow over a 0-1 defeat that already hurt enough.
So BVB move forward into a week that encapsulates modern football life in one club: ambitious construction plans, injury worries, a young player on the brink of departure, and a reminder from the Südtribüne that, beyond the results and the projects, the heartbeat of Borussia Dortmund still comes from its people.
