The inauguration of the Bundesliga season promised not only to be a sporting celebration, but also an arena for fan protests. There was a tense atmosphere in Dortmund, Hoffenheim and Leipzig, which could affect the matches.

Common ground

The start of a new Bundesliga season is a time that is usually associated with the anticipation of football excitement. This year, however, fans of the German league's top three clubs - Borussia Dortmund, TSG Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig - are voicing their discontent. The protests have different backgrounds, but they share a common denominator: fans‘ frustration with the clubs’ decisions and the way internal affairs are managed.

Tank in front of Dortmund stadium?

The situation in Dortmund is the most emotional, with fans expressing their outrage at the club's sponsorship deal with armaments company Rheinmetall. Borussia decided to go ahead with a €20 million partnership with the arms manufacturer without consulting fan representatives, sparking an uproar among fans.

The protests were aimed at highlighting the incompatibility of this deal with the values the club had declared in the past. Borussia fans decided to express their discontent in a spectacular way. A model of a tank decorated with garlands and BVB flags was placed in front of Signal Iduna Park, and further protests were planned at the stadium during the match against Eintracht Frankfurt. The German Peace Society has also joined the protests.

© ᎳᎾᏒᏞᎠ ᎳᎪᏞᏦᎬᏒᏃ | Signal Iduna Park

Fears of Hoffenheim match cancellation

In Hoffenheim, the situation is even more tense. A group of ultras threatened to provoke the cancellation of the match at PreZero Arena against Holstein Kiel. TSG Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo openly admits that he and the club as a whole felt a great deal of anxiety ahead of the inaugural season. The tension stems mainly from the conflict surrounding the club's patron Dietmar Hopp, who has once again become the target of fan attacks.

It all started with the departure of the club's long-time manager, Alexander Rosen, which was seen as a sign of further centralisation of power in Hopp's hands. The fans, long dissatisfied with the billionaire's influence at the club, decided to voice their opposition. There were fears at Hoffenheim that the protests could escalate to the point that the match would be abandoned or even cancelled. The meeting went ahead without any problems.

© Thomas Dohmke (cc: by-nc-sa) | PreZero Arena

Protests against arbitrary decisions of RB Leipzig

Although the situation in Leipzig is not as dramatic as in Hoffenheim or Dortmund, there is also a tense atmosphere there. RB Leipzig's authorities decided to tighten their policy towards fans after a series of pyrotechnics-related incidents. The club decided to scrap the registration of choreography for away matches in the new season, a decision that was met with criticism from active fan groups. Bans were also imposed on matches at Red Bull Arena and season tickets were withdrawn.

In response to these decisions, the Unsere Kurve alliance called on fans to protest and defend their rights. The main demands include the legalisation of pyrotechnics and acceptable ticket prices. Although these protests may be more symbolic, they show that the club-fan relationship in Leipzig is also far from ideal.

© ᎳᎾᏒᏞᎠ ᎳᎪᏞᏦᎬᏒᏃ | Red Bull Arena