The safety of the players takes precedence, which is why Tuesday evening's DFB Cup quarter final between Sportfreunde Lotte and Borussia Dortmund was called off 45 minutes before the planned kick-off time. A short while prior to that, a heavy snowfall had passed over the stadium.

Hans-Joachim Watzke: "The problem is that none of the players would have kept their footing on this pitch. I have to compliment the referee, because calling off a match isn't exactly a popular decision. Compliments to Sportfreunde Lotte too, they dealt with the situation very sensibly. They don't want any of their players to get injured either. I can understand the disappointment on the part of the spectators, but this was the right decision."

Michael Zorc: "Representatives of both clubs were called into the referees' locker room at 19:45 CET and the pitch was declared to be unplayable because the safety of the players couldn't be guaranteed. And that was the correct call. You can't keep your footing on this pitch, it's slippy, and it poses the risk that you'll sustain muscle injuries or slide into opponents because you can't stop. It was a very wise decision by Felix Brych."

Marcel Schmelzer (Team Captain): "We took a look at the pitch a short while ago and think the decision is justified. After all, a football match was supposed to take place. For everyone who was in the stadium, it's rubbish that it happened at such short notice."

Felix Brych (Referee): "I couldn't guarantee the safety of the players. The pitch is soaked through, the players wouldn't have had a firm footing. The snow showers an hour before the match were heavy. After ten to 15 minutes the turf would have been cut up. Both clubs were fully supportive of my decision."

Ismail Atalan (Lotte Coach): "I'm disappointed that the match couldn't take place but I understand the decision. The grass is quite deep. At the very latest after the warm-up, we would have found it difficult to keep our footing. I'd like to make one thing clear: we did not knowingly provide a poor pitch." (br)