The reasons behind the widespread Bundesliga atmosphere boycotts on matchday 11 | OneFootball

Bundesliga viewers tuning into the matches this weekend will surely notice that widespread atmosphere boycotts will be taking place across the German Bundesrepublik. One of the largest Bundesliga umbrella group of fan societies – “Fanszenen Deutschland” – has called for 12-minute atmosphere boycotts after kickoffs in continued protest of proposed stricter footballing security measures. 

Fanszenen Deutschland has mobilized, among others, heavy hitters within the German fan scene such as Dortmund’s Südtribune Alliance, Bayern’s Südkurve München, and Stuttgart’s Commando Cannstatt. Protests already took place in Leipzig last weekend in the city ahead of the German national team’s crucial World Cup qualifier at the Red Bull Arena. Some banners (pictured above) made it into the stadium. 

Why precisely are the fans protesting?

In this case, the common German footballing fan tradition of atmosphere boycotts is being leveled against some additional security proposals set to be discussed at the Interior Ministers Conference in Bremen between December 3rd and December 5th. Politicians and police officials have recently deemed current policies restricting entrance to stadiums to be insufficient to regulate security.

Fans fear measures such as personalized tickets being tied to I.D. checks at the gate and the implementation of A.I. assisted facial recognition software. The Interior Ministers Conference (IMK) has vowed to discuss stricter measures aimed at keeping known troublemakers out of the sporting venues. Ticketing quotas for guest fans are also a topic. 

What is the state of the protest movement?

While official numbers differ based on the source, several thousand fans from at least 38 German football clubs took part in protests across Leipzig last weekend. The specific target of the fans remains the association of German Interior Ministers from the 16 German Federal states set to partake in the conference. 

The banner shown in this article’s picture calls out the “IM”s for their stance. In addition to the atmosphere boycotts, there will be anti IM placards and a coordinated chant from opposing ultra sections to commemorate the end of the boycotts. As is often the case, there may be play disruptions due to some extra protest actions as well.

Typically, the two fan blocks in a German stadium declare an end to atmosphere boycotts together. As the 13-minute-mark in all of the matches, the two “Fan-Kurven” will take turns shouting “Scheiß IMK” for an additional minute or so. After that, cheering and chanting will resume.

Where do German clubs stand?

The Fanszenen Deutschland statement has implored the clubs to stand with the fans in this case. Eintracht Frankfurt have already seen their fans banned from a Champions League fixture in Naples this year, while SC Freiburg and Bayern Munich traveling supporters were subject to extreme security measures during their respective trips to Nice and Paris. Stuttgart supporters encountered similar difficulties en route to Belgrade for a UCL fixture last year. 

When it comes to German stadium security measures, measures such as block segregation and fan gear restrictions usually prove sufficient to keep the peace within the venues. There has been some major fan scuffles this season, but these took place far away from the venues in the Hannover and Köln train stations. German football clubs already pay exorbitant amounts of money for what many Germans consider to be excessive police presence on matchdays. 

“Clubs: We can only do this together!,” the Fanszenen Deutschland statement reads. “Last weekend, we fans formed a strong unity across rivalries, colors and views and expressed our stance. Now it’s your turn!

“The statements made by the IMK and the planned changes not only destroy free fan culture, but also interfere massively and unjustifiably with club structures,” the statement continues. “The years of good work done by the clubs and their partners are being trampled on without any real reason, and the experience of going to the stadium is being massively damaged in its reputation by untruths and selfish politicians.”

What do the DFL and DFB Say?

Both organizations who – together – administer Germany’s top three professional footballing flights are backing the fans. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and DFL managing director Marc Lenz were both present at a Fan Culture summit meeting last week. A joint statement released on the DFL’s website on Friday read:

“Collective official measures are neither effective in improving stadium safety nor acceptable to the many millions of football fans who would be affected by these measures. This explicitly refers to measures such as reducing or eliminating ticket quotas for visiting fans or the requirement for personalization and the associated identification upon entry.”

GGFN | Peter Weis