Fan demo in Leipzig: Football fans united for fan culture on November 16th!

Fan demo in Leipzig: Football fans united for fan culture on November 16th!

On November 16, 2025, an important fan demo will take place in Leipzig, which was initiated by various fan scenes. The demonstration begins at 11:30 a.m. in the city center, with all participants expected to appear in their club colors. A call to fans is to avoid group and scene articles. The aim of this campaign is to promote solidarity among football fans across rivalries and to preserve fan culture. This is intended to send a strong signal against the increasing restrictions and measures that are putting a strain on the fan scene in Germany. The organizers also want respectful behavior towards the city of Leipzig and other demonstration participants.

The focus is particularly on the current criticism of the German football league DFB, which is described as “the vicarious agent of populist interior ministers”. In the run-up to the Interior Ministers' Conference (IMK), which is controversial among fans, further protest actions are planned for Monday, November 17th. These actions are in connection with the German national team's DFB international match against Slovakia. The fan scene wants to keep up the protest even on the weekend without games.

Challenges for fan culture

The current discussions about security in football are a central topic in this context. In the federal-state open working group (BLoAG), representatives from politics, the police, the DFB and DFL are working on measures aimed at improving the security situation in the stadiums. It is well known that fan culture and the games themselves are under pressure from individuals' willingness to use violence and politically motivated measures. These developments have led to discussions about reducing away fan contingents and personalizing tickets being on the agenda.

Fan culture is a passionately defended asset within German professional football. Official statistics and surveys show that many fans have a positive stadium experience. A clear rejection of unilateral official intervention is reflected in the common request to identify solutions to improve security without punishing the fans as a collective. The DFB and DFL are working to strengthen prevention measures and invest more resources in social-educational fan projects.

The role of fan projects

An important aspect of the ongoing discussions is the strengthening of fan representatives and those responsible for security within the clubs. The funding for these positions should be specifically increased in order to meet the requirements for security and fan management. It also points out the need for stadium bans to be based on concrete, verifiable facts and not to be imposed across the board. These demands are part of efforts to maintain the level of safety while preserving the positive character of the fan culture.

The upcoming actions and the fan demonstration in Leipzig are therefore not just a protest, but also a call for active participation in the dialogue between fans, clubs and the authorities. The coming period will show whether the voice of the fans is heard and whether there are ways to strike a balance between safety and a vibrant fan culture.