The DFB reports: Violence and discrimination are declining in amateur football. Doubts come from the football basis and from science.
Axel Zimmermann is not satisfied with the start of the season. The head of the Bochum football group has to do with a few broken offs in his area in the season that has just started. “No, nothing has really improved in terms of violence in amateur football lately”says the 59-year-old.
Zimmermann has headed the Bochum amateur kickers for four years, and as a referee he has been active for many years – he has observed a worrying trend: “We find that youth games are also increasingly affected by outbreaks of violence. Although the aggressions usually do not come from the players, but from supervisors or spectators. Recently a game of two girls’ teams had to be canceled. I always thought that nothing would happen.”
DFB reports a decline in violent acts
Zimmermann’s observations do not coincide with the latest management report of the German Football Federation (DFB), which proudly announced on Tuesday (September 16, 2025): In the 2024/2025 season, 829 violent or discrimination-related game discontinuation were registered in organized game operations. That was nine percent less than in the previous year and meant the lowest level since the end of Corona pandemic four years ago.
In relation to the total number of around 1.286 million games with completed game report, 0.06 percent of the games were affected by a demolition. The proportion of games with reported violent or discrimination occurrences dropped to 0.43 percent (2023/2024: 0.45 percent). Zimmermann does not believe these numbers: “Many referees do not report the events out of fear or inability. I would rather estimate that around five percent of all games lead to violent or discrimination cases.”
Criminologist doubts DFB data
Thaya Vester, criminologist at the University of Tübingen, who has been intensively concerned with violence at football spots for years, also has doubts about the DFB report. She means to Sportschau.de: “The data surveys of the DFB are inaccurate, actually not really serious to measure the total volume of violence.”
“A lot of room for improvement” – Thaya Vester
Vester specified: “On the one hand, this is due to the fact that only about 90 percent of all football games are documented electronically. On the other hand, this is due to the system: the referees are encouraged to write special reports in violence incidents. But not all or they are overwhelmed and make it incorrect or inaccurate.
Captain rule and “stop concept” have a positive effect
Since the 2014/2015 season, the DFB has been determined annually based on the game reports of the referees, as is the case with regard to violence and discrimination against the situation of amateur football in Germany. Incidents can be reported around a game at the referee or afterwards at the respective point of contact for violent and discrimination incidents by the responsible state association.
The past 2024/2025 season was also the first in which the captain rule and the “stop concept” were used in the entire German amateur football. The “captain rule” states that only the team captain has the right to talk to the referee about important decisions, while all other players have to adhere to a minimum distance.
“A lot of room for improvement”
The stop concept enables arbitrators in amateur football to interrupt the game for a calm break if the minds are too heated and could escalate violence. After the whistle, the players go into their penalty rooms, while the coach and captains come to the middle circle for discussion. The goal is to stop escalations and prevent game dropouts by giving those involved a short break.
Referee – not an easy job
Vester sees this as very sensible measures: “A lot has happened on the part of the DFB in recent years when it comes to violence prevention. At least in some departments there is a awareness of the problem. But not to all necessary. There is still a lot of room for improvement.”
No uniform sentence
The expert finds: “The core problem in the structures of the DFB: The processing and punishment of occurrences is the responsibility of the subordinate state associations. There are 19 different legal and procedural orders in DFB 21. like bans. “
Vester has noticed: “In terms of violence on football spots, the DFB would like to refer to the formally responsible national associations. It would be better if it recognized its social responsibility and assumed more responsibility as a umbrella organization. Uniform procedures and criminal catalogs would have to be found. And it would be good if more invested in prevention. The use of social workers in focus areas would only be an example.”
“Too little from the DFB”
Such commitment on the part of the DFB would also be welcome at Bochum’s district chairman. The criticism: “The coaches of our clubs should not only teach their players the football game. They should also shape the character of their protégés. For example, they should teach them how to deal with defeats in terms of sport. We need a lot more support in such educational work. And I see the DFB in my opinion too little.”