FIFA security chief supports Dortmund call

FIFA's future head of security has defended the decision to go ahead with the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Monaco.

"If we give in we do exactly what these criminals want," Helmut Spahn told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published on Thursday.

There has been criticism of the decision to play the quarter-final first-leg match on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), a day after a bomb attack on the Dortmund team bus which led to the postponement of the game originally scheduled for Tuesday.

But Spahn, who will be head of security at soccer's world governing body from May 2, said authorities had to weigh up each case.

"If there had been fatalities, of course no match would have been held," he said.

Spahn, who was head of security for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, said German soccer was the leader on safety standards but it would be difficult to eliminate all danger.

"If, for example, pyrotechnics are smuggled in, it is obvious that there might be other substances," he said.

"You have to live with this residual risk, which must be minimised as much as possible, or there will be no more football games."

Dortmund lost the match 3-2. The second leg will be played in Monaco on Wednesday.