German football is having a hard time when it comes to child protection. All 21 regional associations have a contact point for those seeking advice in cases of physical, psychological or sexual violence. There is no information about the number of reports.
Two and a half million girls and boys in Germany are members of a football club. More than in any other sport. Many people have one dream in common: becoming a professional footballer. Coaches have a lot of power here.
Perpetrators exploit this specifically – for assaults and even rape. This is shown by the recent major trials in Essen and Munich. The courts there sentenced football coaches to long prison sentences. They had inflicted severe violence on their young charges.
How many people are seeking help is unknown
Because of the large number of children and young people playing football, sports sociologist Bettina Rulofs states that, in absolute terms, the problem of violence must be greatest in football: “That means there is a very high probability that we have the most incidents of sexual, psychological or physical violence in the sport of football.”
But how many people seek help within the football structures is unknown. Neither the DFB nor its member associations provide any figures. A sports show survey of all 21 regional associations gave the same answer: due to data protection, victim protection or personal rights, no information could be given here.
“If it’s really just a matter of numbers”says Anne Jakob, professor of sports law “Without a name, without case details and other identifying features, then these excuses on the part of the associations cannot be justified”.
“Don’t duck the responsibility”
This lack of transparency from the state associations “makes me angry”says the young man we call Henry when we describe the feedback from the associations to him. He experienced severe sexual violence at the hands of a former football coach. Henry told his story in the WDR documentary “I am stronger than you” because he wants to raise awareness of the issue and also protect others.
He has no understanding of the fact that the national football associations do not provide information about the number of reports in their structures. In an interview with Sportschau he states: “The people who sit in the association have a job and a responsibility towards athletes and those affected.”
The topic of interpersonal violence in sport is certainly not pleasant, but whoever is responsible must bear it. “And then I have to be able to say, ‘Something didn’t go well here, we support you’ and then not duck away from the responsibility.” Numbers about people seeking help at the contact points of the regional associations are important to him because he then knows: “I’m not alone, I don’t have to be ashamed of it because it only happens to me, but to so many others too.”
No cross-association structure
The German Football Association also does not provide any further information. “Of course we receive reports”explains Christina Gassner, Director of Political Relations, Society and Security at the DFB, “But we cannot currently provide any information about the number of cases”.
Lawyer Gassner, who previously dealt with the issue of interpersonal violence in sport as managing director of the German Sports Youth, however, unlike the regional associations, does not talk about victim protection or data protection, but confirms: “At the moment we don’t have a cross-association structure for recording cases, but we’re working on it and the goal should be to have better data overall.”
Working on a structure for recording cases is an idea “Perhaps we could have thought of this earlier”says Ina Lambert. The qualified psychologist is the managing director of the association Safe sports eV, a federally funded contact point for those affected by physical, psychological and sexual violence in sport.
The fact that the DFB now wants to create a data base is definitely a step in the right direction. Because it is important to record the reports, “So that you have an idea of what’s happening, where do you have to intervene or where to take prevention measures. You can only know that if you record the reports.”
Most reports from football
The Safe Sport eV association publishes an activity report every year. In 2025, most requests for help came from football. The cases ranged from questions about whether certain behavior on the part of a trainer, for example, was “normal” to allegations of sexual violence, said Ina Lambert.
Safe Sport was also contacted by people who wanted to make their report directly to the football structures but didn’t know where to turn. The contact points are often hidden on the state association websites.
Henry also had this experience when he was looking for contacts on the topic: “It is almost impossible for those affected to find and speak to someone.”
The reason for this, suspects Ina Lambert from the Safe Sport association, could be the fear of damage to football’s reputation: “If I hide reporting channels, the likelihood that reports will reach the association is also lower. Then you can of course say that it doesn’t happen that often here.”
Report incidents and data
Transparency is more of an advantage. The Cologne sports sociologist Bettina Rulofs has had the experience “That associations that deal proactively with the issue, that are also prepared to report on incidents and data, do not have to be afraid of looking bad in public.” Because that just shows “that the associations deal with it transparently and openly”.
In conversations with Sportschau, people from regional football associations describe what is also known from other associations: Many contact persons work on a voluntary basis. Those who work in the main office also have to carry out numerous other tasks and are also given the title of “contact person for the issue of physical, psychological and sexual violence” or “child protection officer”. In some cases, the association leadership also makes their work difficult and is of the opinion that the problem does not occur in their own association.
DFB is working on Safe sport concept
The DFB is currently working on a “safe sport concept,” said DFB director Christina Gassner. It’s about “to cover all target groups, all forms of interpersonal violence and all components of Safe Sport, i.e. prevention, intervention and reappraisal”. This will now be worked out in your team and then presented to the DFB management for a decision. According to Gassner, those affected will not initially be involved in this work
It turns out that there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to protection against physical, psychological and sexual violence in German football. The young footballer Henry sees it that way too. For him, child protection is here “It’s not a question of ability, but of desire”.