As a sign against increasing violence on amateur football pitches, the district of Beckum has canceled a district league match day. Is it true that the problem is getting worse?
In the district leagues A, B and C in Beckum, Westphalia, the ball rests at the weekend. The football district has canceled all games, “to make a mark”according to a statement. “In recent years, disrespect has increased, and the willingness to use violence in the squares is increasing.”
The district had already registered many cases of violence in the previous season. “This development reached its peak at the beginning of the still young 2023/24 season,” writes the association.
A district cup game was canceled due to a mass brawl, in another game the referee was so threatened that he was forced to lock himself in the dressing room until the police arrived.
reports are piling up
Reports about violence on football pitches keep making the rounds: about a Youth player who died in Frankfurt about bullying and violence against referees as well as about racist hostilities. But is it true that the problem of violence is increasing? In any case, the problem is not new. In 2006, for example, the Siegen-Wittgenstein district canceled a day of play due to increased violence.
Comparisons to the 1980s or 1990s, when there was also a rough tone on the football fields, are difficult due to the lack of data. Since 2014, however, the German Football Association (DFB) has been evaluating the online game reports, in which the referees can note incidents.
The number of game abandonments was therefore constant in the first few years, then Corona came – and in the 2022/23 season there was an increase from 0.05 to 0.075 percent of all games recorded. 911 games were canceled across Germany.
Probably many cases not recorded
In 0.29 percent of all games recorded, the referee noted an act of violence, in 0.20 percent discrimination. The figures for the 2022/23 season are to be published shortly, and many expect a further increase.
In addition, the reverse conclusion that more than 99 percent of all games are conflict-free is not possible, says Thaya Vester. She researches violence in amateur football at the University of Tübingen and advises the DFB. Because game reports are not reported in all games and not all incidents are also noted.
Negative spiral through reports of violence
For this reason and based on his own surveys, Vester came to the conclusion in November 2022: Violence in amateur football is actually increasing, including against referees. Vester fears a negative spiral in view of the increased reports of violence.
“Potential people who are interested in whistling are put off by this, they stay away from football. On the other hand, people who have an affinity for violence may even be attracted because they think: In football you can allow yourself that.”, said the criminologist to the SWR.
This fits the observation of Christian Brossmann, youth leader of Hertha 03 Zehlendorf, the club with the largest youth department in Germany. With a view to recurring fights on and on the field, he told Deutschlandfunk: “It has gone up exorbitantly after the Corona period. The inhibition threshold, the natural distance is simply gone.”
Even outside of football: the number of violent crimes is increasing
Football reflects society – apparently also in this case. After several years of declining numbers, crime statistics in 2022 recorded almost 20 percent more violent crime cases than in the previous year and almost 9 percent more than in 2019, before Corona. The following are often mentioned as possible reasons: the consequences of the pandemic, inflation and the uncertain political situation in the world.
What football is doing
There are many initiatives to prevent violence, including in football. All state associations now have a contact point for cases of violence and discrimination, the DFB awards its “Fair Play Medal” and other prizes every year, and the violence prevention concept “Fair is more” has existed since 2014.
The football district of Beckum has also become active and held so-called “fair play meetings” at the beginning of the 2022/23 season. “Ideas were developed together in the hope that fair play in the games would come to the fore again,” writes the association. “Unfortunately, in the end, we had to realize that these measures had little or no effect.” The games from the weekend that have now been canceled at short notice must be made up for at a different time.
The Football and Athletics Association of Westphalia (FLVW), to which the district of Beckum also belongs, is also trying a different method: it has announced higher fines for violent crimes. Unsportsmanlike behavior can be punished with up to 5,000 euros.