“Stadiums are safe” – fans protest against new measures

As of: November 8th, 2025 8:53 p.m

At the Interior Ministers’ Conference at the beginning of December, measures for more security in the stadiums may be decided – but these have long been certain, say active fan scenes.

The same wording could be read on posters in many stadiums over the weekend: “IMK 25: Your own statistics show: The stadiums are safe. Stop populism!” IMK refers to the Conference of Interior Ministers, which meets in Bremen from December 3rd to 5th. After a security summit with the DFB, DFL and the federal state ministers responsible for sport in October 2024, several measures were introduced that could be decided or further specified at the beginning of December.

The current statistics from the Central Information Center for Sports Operations (ZIS) at the North Rhine-Westphalia police, to which the posters at the weekend referred, show declining numbers of injuries and investigations initiated as the total number of fans in the stadiums increases. Nevertheless, since the security summit in 2024, there has been a clear expectation from politicians to improve security and tighten measures.

Two points in particular cause controversy:

St. Paulis President Divine: “Personalized Tickets not practical”

“It is important that associations and authorities also talk to fans and not about them”said Oke Göttlich, President of FC St. Pauli and member of the executive boards of the DFL and DFB, in an interview with Sportschau. “Reducing police deployment hours must be the common goal of all parties involved. Collective condemnation is not a solution, which is why the DFL and DFB are campaigning against excessive sanctions from the IMK that are not supported by statistics. Better communication and processes between those involved are the best prevention and lead to this common goal.”

Divine explicitly addresses another point: “Personalized tickets are not practical.”

Personalized Tickets as a point of contention between associations and politics

The demand for personalized tickets comes primarily from Lower Saxony. After riots at the games between Eintracht Braunschweig and Hannover 96, the police, in coordination with Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens, restricted the guest contingent and provided personalized tickets at least temporarily as a requirement for away fans, but the measure was ultimately not taken.

Eintracht Braunschweig argued that this measure “not feasible in practice” be. “According to our calculations, if the block of guests is sold out, the admission process would take several hours. The long waiting time greatly increases the likelihood of escalating pressure situations.”

Stadium bans: fans fear “watering can principle”

On Friday, the “Fanscene Germany” alliance spoke up. “The German stadiums are safe places – all the statistics prove that”it said in a statement. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf made similar comments. Visiting the stadiums is safe, “That’s what the numbers and facts show”said Neuendorf on Friday at the DFB Bundestag. “But there is enormous pressure on us and clear expectations from politicians.” He stressed that regulatory steps and coercive measures could come in hosting the Games, “if we are not prepared to take a step”. This is evident when it comes to stadium bans.

A higher-level stadium ban commission at the DFB, as demanded by politicians, is to come. At the same time, in contrast to the first proposal, the local commissions should be retained and initially remain responsible – which the DFB and DFL see as a success in negotiations. Both sides came together like this. With the new principle, the higher-level body could intervene if it finds that the clubs are not acting satisfactorily.

Politicians and the police regularly criticize what they see as inconsistent use of stadium bans. In the current annual report on sports operations for 2024/25 it is again mentioned that there are more procedures initiated than stadium bans and that the clubs have the means “Leave largely unused”.

Regarding the new commission, the “Fanscene Germany” alliance said that they feared a “watering can principle”. The expertise of the clubs “who are familiar with the events surrounding their (home) games and can definitely classify local situations better than a central office”is deliberately avoided. 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.

Another sticking point for the fan scenes: 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, but according to the proposals, 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.

The controversial issue of pyrotechnics remains

The use of pyrotechnics remains under discussion. According to information from the Sportschau, the DFB and DFL explained to the clubs at an information event that the authorities expected a “zero tolerance strategy” and “further measures”. The “Fan Scenes in Germany”, on the other hand, demand the acceptance of pyrotechnics. Equating pyrotechnics with violence shows “that there is a lack of understanding of fan culture”.

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.