Up to 50 groups from all over Germany gathered on the streets on Sunday, across all rivalries. The reason for this was the planned tightening of security regulations in the stadiums.
Football fans from all over Germany set an example together in Leipzig on Sunday. Across all rivalries, the hard core of the fan curves, the so-called ultras, came together for a demonstration on the inner-city ring. Protests were held against planned tightening of security regulations in stadiums, as apparently planned by the interior ministers of the federal states, and against stadium bans regardless of suspicion.
In the end, co-organizer Toni from Jena was proud, but also relieved. In a short preparation time, it had been possible to gather so many fans behind common demands to politicians, associations and police, he said to the crowd during a short speech on Richard-Wagner-Platz. And despite some fears, it had remained peaceful. “If we ultras stand together, no one can stop us.”
In fact, the gathering on Sunday alone was more than extraordinary. Ultras from Berlin, Jena, Dresden, Stuttgart, Aachen, Rostock, Leipzig, Cottbus, Cologne, Freiburg, Hanover, Kiel, Hamburg, Saarbrücken, Aue, Chemnitz and many other cities acted together on the streets. They had come to Leipzig by train, by bus, even in a private vehicle. In some cases, very large ultra groups showed up, but smaller scenes also held their flags high. Colorfully arrived in fan clothing, then clearly separated in the demo procession, but somehow together they demonstrated. According to the police, there were 8000 people. In fact, the crowd seemed larger, the organizers themselves speak more like 20,000.
The fact that the big scenes like Dynamo, Hertha, Hansa, HSV and Union seem so strong was perhaps clear and accordingly impressive. But it is also part of the picture that smaller fan scenes, such as TSG Neustrelitz or SV Sandhausen, have also articulated their interests today,” says Philipp Beitzel from the Coordination Office for Fan Projects (KOS). He thinks that the day will now give the entire scene a boost for its protest. And although the message is mainly directed against the interior ministers: “The clubs and associations were also urgently called upon today to do more for the fans in this matter,” said Beitzel.
Everything was disciplined, almost a bit military. Again and again, it was made clear to each other: Today we will remain peaceful. Rivalries don’t matter. Or as spokesman Toni put it at the end: “It has become clear that there is a bigger enemy than our rivalry: politics.”
Not all ultra groups in the state had been involved, some had been absent – from Frankfurt, Magdeburg, Mönchengladbach, Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, for example. And from Leipzig-Leutzsch. Due to irreconcilable differences with their local rivals, the ultras of BSG Chemie preferred to meet at their home Kunze Sportpark on Sunday in order to formulate a note of protest to the interior ministers.
“Ultimately, each scene on site must also know for itself whether it wants to participate,” was the comment from the organizing team of the demo. However, it is also conceivable that there will be other opportunities for cooperation in the future.
Here’s some more photos:
