21 November 2025
Football: Bundesliga supports fans’ protest against proposed safety measures
The German Football League (DFL), which runs Germany’s Bundesliga, has expressed its support for football fans who have been engaged in nationwide protests against new stadium safety measures proposed by politicians.
In December, Germany’s regional state interior ministers are scheduled to meet for their biennial conference, where they will discuss, among other things, measures to tackle the issues of violence and high policing costs at German football matches.
Among the stringent measures reportedly being proposed are personalized tickets linked to fans’ ID cards, AI-supported facial recognition scanners at entry gates and a centralized commission with the power to issue stadium bans immediately if an investigation is initiated against an individual, regardless of the end result.
Well-organized fan groups have described the proposals as “unnecessary,” “undemocratic” and “populist,” pointing out that official police statistics show a decline in arrests and injuries at German football matches – despite rising attendances. Indeed, many people have reported that injury and crime rates are significantly higher at events such as Oktoberfest compared to football matches.
Around 15,000 fans took part in a demonstration in Leipzig last Sunday, and protests will continue at matches this weekend with fans remaining silent for the opening 12 minutes to emphasize the importance of their fan culture in the overall performance.
“The collective measures proposed by the interior ministers are neither practical in terms of improving stadium security nor can they be properly communicated to the millions of football fans who will be affected by them,” the DFL said in a joint statement with the German Football Federation (DFB) on Friday.
Philipp Reschke, president of Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, said, “The DFB and DFL have contributed to the increase in security with creative concepts, while at the same time in the interest of football they have clearly stood against demands that strike at the heart of German fan culture and are therefore not helpful at all.”
At the start of one of the first matches of the weekend on Friday night, Hertha Berlin supporters remained silent for the opening 12 minutes of their team’s Bundesliga 2 game against Eintracht Braunschweig. “Populists are cracking down on fan culture – is this the future of football?”. read one banner, calling on clubs to “stand up for their fans”.