Number of games abandoned in German amateur football drops again

The number of matches in German amateur football abandoned due to violence or discrimination incidents has dropped again in 2024-25, but it remains above the pre-coronavirus figures.

The German Football Federation (DFB) said on Tuesday that 829 matches were not completed, down from 911 in the previous season and a record 959 in 2022-23.

The figure takes into account some 1.3 million matches played from the fifth division downwards. Abandoned matches account for 0.06% of the total, and 0.43% of the matches saw a reported case of violence or discrimination.

It is the lowest number since 2020-21 during the pandemic, while before that 745 matches were abandoned in 2015-16.

‘We are heading in the right direction, with the number of incidents continuing to fall, albeit only in small steps," DFB vice-president Ronny Zimmermann said.

"That is why all of us involved in football must not slacken in our efforts to ensure respectful and friendly behaviour both on and off the pitch," he added, insisting: "every single incident is one too many."

Zimmermann said that the first season with the Captain Only rule, under which only the captain can talk to the referee, has been a success, and with the DFB-Stopp concept, in which the referee stops the game in the case of incidents to calm everyone down, have helped lower the numbers.