Twelve minutes of silence – with this call, a fan alliance is opposing the plans for stricter security measures in football stadiums.
In many football stadiums in Germany it will be unusually quiet on the weekend after the start of the game. The “Fan Scenes in Germany” alliance has called for a boycott. “We will spend the first 12 minutes of the game in silence,” says a call that numerous fan scenes spread on Friday (November 21st, 2025).
The occasion is the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) at the beginning of December, at which measures for more security in the stadiums could be decided. In particular, the proposed personalized tickets and possible tightening of stadium bans are causing controversy.
Demonstration in Leipzig
Last Sunday, thousands of football fans from all over Germany demonstrated against the measures in Leipzig under the motto “Football is safe” – also at the call of “Fan Scenes in Germany”.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) countered in the MDR interview that a “Far too large a police presence” is necessary to create the security that demonstrators were referring to. “We want to normalize the police presence and that means putting it in perspective with sports like basketball, handball or ice hockey, where we go with a few patrols, while in football we often have several hundred – and not even the rich ones.”
Appeal to the clubs
With the boycott, the alliance is also addressing the clubs. “We call on the clubs to defend themselves against the plans with all available resources and options. The IMK’s statements and the planned changes not only destroy free fan culture, but also massively and unfoundedly intervene in the club structures,” it says.
In October 2024, a security summit with the German Football Association (DFB), German Football League (DFL) and the federal state ministers responsible for sport initiated several measures. The IMK from December 3rd to 5th in Bremen could decide or specify this.