Almost a year ago, German domestic politics made demands on the DFB and DFL regarding stadium security. There are now signs of concrete measures – some of which are met with opposition.
In October 2024, politicians had a top-level discussion on the topic of stadium security “Consistent and effective measures” demanded because it “No other sport causes aggressive confrontations and violence so regularly” come like in football.
The annual report 2024/25 published on Thursday by the Central Information Center for Police Sports Operations did not provide any evidence that German football stadiums are particularly dangerous places or that the situation has deteriorated to a great extent. Nevertheless, the DFB and DFL have been under pressure to ensure even more security since the talks with the members of the Conference of Interior Ministers and the Sports Ministers’ Conference as well as the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2024. A working group led by Hamburg was created and is currently developing measures.
| 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Visitors | 22.8 million | 24.32 million | 25.26 million |
deposited Proceedings | 5,498 | 6,179 | 4,700 |
Injured | 1,176 | 1,338 | 1,107 |
Injured Pyro | 92 | 114 | 95 |
Two sticking points for fan scenes
The group met for consultations and negotiations in April, August and October 2025. According to information from the Sportschau, the DFB and DFL presented the clubs with an interim status from the working group in a presentation on Monday.
The two most controversial proposals:
- The prerequisite for a stadium ban is that an investigation has been initiated against the person concerned. So far, a stadium ban “should” be imposed in this case; according to the proposal, this “must” always happen in the future. This would always result in a minimum penalty of three months’ stadium ban – regardless of whether and how the situation might be resolved in the person’s favour.
- Politicians expect personalized tickets from the DFB and DFL in the future.
It is still unclear when the measures could be decided. The Interior Ministers’ Conference is scheduled to take place in Bremen from December 3rd to 5th, 2025, where at least a new status will be reported to the officials.
Stadium bans: elimination of local commissions prevented, tightening in the area
The background: In 2024, politicians called for a higher-level stadium ban commission at the DFB, which should make decisions instead of the commissions in the clubs. Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) said at the time that clubs had problems, “to enforce the toughest measures against our own members”. The police also criticized the lack of consistency. The annual report on sports operations for 2024/25 again mentions that there are more procedures initiated than stadium bans and that the clubs are using the means “Leave largely unused”.
In the discussion so far, the working group agreed that there should be a higher-level stadium ban commission at the DFB, but at the same time the local commissions should be retained. In this way, the DFB and DFL as well as politics on the other side came together. With the new principle, the higher-level body could intervene if it finds that the clubs are not acting satisfactorily. However, this would mean that the local commissions could initially remain responsible, which is what the umbrella organization of fan aid organizations, for example, had insisted on. “The local issuance of stadium bans is an established and, above all, successful concept. The respective personal circumstances and the actual events can be better assessed on site.”said the umbrella organization of fan aids at the Sportschau’s request. Fan aid supports, among other things, legal advice for fans who get into conflict with the police or the judiciary.
Ultras usually show solidarity with fans who are banned from stadiums.
The authorities are hoping for more consistency through the proposed automatic imposition of a stadium ban when an investigation is initiated. However, this would mean there would be no room for discretion for the clubs. “If there is no more room for maneuver, numerous fans will be banned from the stadium completely innocently.”says the umbrella organization of fan aids. A “watering can principle” is the feared consequence: “The trend of the past few seasons clearly shows that an increasing number of large groups of fans had to travel home due to general allegations of crimes by the police and that investigations were initiated. In the future, these people would all inevitably have to be banned from the stadium.”
When asked by the Sportschau, the DFB and the DFL referred to the ongoing discussions on which they would not comment on the content. When asked, the Conference of Sports Ministers spoke of an expectation that “that the points agreed in the top-level discussion are consistently implemented”. The Conference of Interior Ministers announced that a concept is currently being developed. When designing the new commission, the goal is a uniform, efficient stadium ban procedure in professional football. “In addition, the DFB guidelines on stadium bans should be revised and made more binding.”
Stadium bans
Stadium bans have been a point of contention between fans and associations for years. Fan alliances repeatedly criticize a “parallel justice system”. In their view, many bans are imposed unjustified, arbitrarily and hastily. Politicians, on the other hand, see it as an important instrument to keep troublemakers away from the stadiums. The Federal Constitutional Court decided in 2018 that stadium bans are not set arbitrarily and must be based on an objective reason. However, that would be enough for a stadium ban “a reasonable concern that a person poses a risk of future disruption”. A stadium ban is officially not considered a punishment – but rather a preventative measure to prevent misconduct.
Personalized Tickets: point of contention between associations and politics
Another point continues to cause disagreement: personalized tickets. This demand comes primarily from Lower Saxony. After riots at the games between Eintracht Braunschweig and Hannover 96, the police, in coordination with Interior Minister Daniela Behrens, restricted the guest contingents. Most recently, personalized tickets for away fans were at least available for these games, However, the measure was ultimately not taken.
Fans with cell phone tickets, here in Leipzig
Personalized tickets might now become a general option? In their presentation to the clubs, the DFB and DFL call personalized tickets one “official expectation”. Below it says: “There are still different opinions on the topic of personalized ticketing.” The DFB and DFL are opposing the demands of politicians here. The fan alliance “Our Curve” also criticizes this possible measure. “Thanks to season tickets and online tickets, the proportion of personalized tickets in some stadiums is already close to 100 percent – a fact that the hardliners must have overlooked in their blind zeal.”said Jost Peter, first chairman of “Our Curve,” when asked by Sportschau. The umbrella organization of fan aid asked: “What is this supposed to improve? Politicians still don’t have the answers to this.” The DFB, DFL and the political committees did not comment on this when asked.
The reasons for the DFB and DFL’s rejection are primarily difficulties in implementation: If thousands of fans come to the entrances in the last few minutes before kick-off, a comparison with the respective ID card would be a time-consuming effort that would be difficult to manage. Conveniently passing on a season ticket or an unused day ticket for a game to other fans would also involve a lot more effort.
Pyrotechnics: Politicians expect stricter action
For years, pyrotechnics have sparked discussions between active fan scenes on the one hand and politicians, police and associations on the other. For many fans, pyrotechnics are an inseparable part of a lively fan culture – politicians, the police and associations repeatedly point out the dangers of burning things down, which is therefore forbidden. Compromises for controlled burning have not been achieved in the past.
Fans set off pyrotechnics in the stadium at the old forestry station in Berlin
At European level, UEFA regularly uses block bans to combat pyrotechnic violations. The DFB sports court has never abolished such collective punishments, but only sees them as a last resort and has not imposed them in practice since 2017. The topic of collective punishments such as ghost games or grandstand closures had initially been put on hold, said Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) after the 2024 conference. The DFL also announced in 2024: “The focus was fundamentally on taking action against individual disruptors in order to avoid the collective punishments rejected by the DFB and DFL.”
The DFB and DFL have now explained to the clubs that the authorities are expecting a “Zero tolerance strategy” and “further measures” give. We are talking about one “Further development of sanction options”for example with one “Step concept”. This leaves it open what practice will look like in the future.
Prevention work should be strengthened – but how?
According to the status of the discussion, “in addition to repressive measures” prevention work should be strengthened. Whether this “Strengthening” It remained unclear whether this could lead to increased financial and human resources, for example for social-educational fan projects.
From the perspective of the fan projects, a missing instrument in fan work was the right to refuse to testify in social work, which caused a stir in a case in Karlsruhe. The presentation does not mention how to deal with the question of the right to refuse to testify or even a corresponding demand for it. On Wednesday, the Federal Working Group of Fan Projects expressly called for the right to refuse to testify to be enshrined in law. As long as this is missing, the skilled workers are “Continue to be exposed to the risk of legal prosecution if they protect the trust necessary for successful prevention work.”