Borussia Dortmund's Future: New Sports Hall and Training Ground Concerns
Borussia Dortmund are reshaping their future on and off the pitch – with steel, concrete, and a few sharp intakes of breath on the training ground.
A New Arena in the Shadow of the Westfalenstadion
Close to the towering stands of the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund are preparing to build again. This time, not another stand or VIP area, but a multi-purpose hall designed to pull the club’s elite sports under one roof.
According to Ruhr Nachrichten, the club plans to invest between €15 and €20 million in the new venue. It will primarily serve the women’s handball team and the table-tennis department – two sections that rarely grab the footballing headlines but sit firmly in the club’s sporting identity.
The project is already moving. A planning firm has been commissioned to run a feasibility study and draft the first concrete designs. Talks with the city about purchasing and using the site are scheduled for May, a key step before the diggers can roll in.
Club president Hans-Joachim Watzke has pushed this long-discussed idea onto the front burner.
“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,” Watzke is quoted as saying. 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 often speaks about “the BVB family,” this is a physical expression of that idea – a home for more than just the men’s first team, set right in the heart of their territory.
Training Ground Jolt: Guirassy Limps Off
While the club sketches out its future in bricks and mortar, the present delivered a scare on the training pitch.
Serhou Guirassy was forced to abandon Tuesday’s session after an incident that will have set nerves jangling ahead of the weekend. Social-media footage showed the striker struggling after around an hour of work, his movement clearly restricted, before he left the field with his ankle bandaged.
The problem came after a sliding tackle from centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, whose challenge appeared to catch Guirassy’s ankle. The forward needed immediate treatment on the pitch, then limped away towards the dressing room.
With a trip to TSG Hoffenheim looming on Saturday, his status is uncertain. Dortmund have not yet confirmed whether he will be fit in time, and until they do, every step he takes will be watched closely.
For a side that can ill afford to lose firepower at this stage of the season, the timing could hardly be worse.
Kabar at a Crossroads
Another storyline is unfolding a little further from the spotlight. BVB will soon sit down to decide the future of young defender Almugera Kabar.
Ruhr Nachrichten reports that the club hierarchy plans talks with the 19-year-old in the near future to clarify his role. The indications, though, point towards a parting of ways in the summer.
Kabar has been making his mark mainly with the reserves in the Regionalliga West. From left-back he has produced impressive numbers: six goals and one assist in 16 appearances – eye-catching returns for a defender at any level.
His exposure to the first team has been minimal. So far in the 2025/26 campaign, he has featured just once, coming on for Julian Ryerson for the final 15 minutes of last weekend’s 0-1 home defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
For a teenager eager to accelerate his career, that gap between promise and opportunity may prove decisive when he and the club sit across the table.
Tragedy on the Südtribüne
All of this, though, is framed by a sobering loss that cut through the usual noise around results, tactics, and transfers.
On Tuesday, Borussia Dortmund confirmed that the supporter who received emergency resuscitation at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday has died. The man had collapsed in the Südtribüne during the 0-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen and was rushed to Dortmund Hospital, where he passed away later that day, as reported by Ruhr Nachrichten.
“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 on Tuesday. “In these difficult hours, the thoughts of the entire BVB family are with his family and friends.”
The drama unfolded a few minutes into the second half. Both sets of fans fell suddenly quiet, the usual roar from the stands fading as attention turned to the emergency in the terrace. By the final whistle, rivals on the pitch were overshadowed by unity in the stands, with supporters of both clubs joining to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
A stadium announcement had informed fans that the supporter had been resuscitated and taken to hospital. Hope travelled with him. The news that followed has left a heavy silence where the Südtribüne usually thunders.
So Dortmund move on into the week with plans for a new hall, doubts over a key striker, a talented youngster weighing his options, and a fanbase mourning one of its own. In a club defined by emotion and noise, the next home match will carry a different kind of echo.
