Standing areas to return at Germany matches for first time in 25 years
On 11 August, the German Football Association (DFB) confirmed the decision to reintroduce standing areas at fixtures involving Germany’s senior men’s and women’s national teams, as well as the men’s U21 side, for the first time in 25 years.
The impact of this motion will be felt as soon as next month, when Germany’s national men’s team face Greece in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday 27 September (kick-off 8.45pm CEST) in Augsburg, before hosting Serbia four days later (kick-off 20.45 CEST) in Munich.
With the reintroduction of standing areas, the DFB is sending out a clear signal concerning the importance of fans at international matches and is seeking to further promote the development of a lively and diverse fan culture around the national teams, given that standing sections had been a defining part of German football for decades.
Forming the basis for this is the decision made by the UEFA Executive Committee to commit themselves to continue open standing areas in the upcoming 2026/27 season, as part of a plan that had already been in place since 2022/2023.
At the scheme’s inception, it was limited to just men’s UEFA club competitions under the jurisdiction of ten participating national football associations – of which Germany is one. However, that decision has since been revised to extend the programme to all UEFA competitions.
Incidentally, standing areas had already been opened in the past for friendly fixtures played by the senior women’s and men’s U21’s sides. However, going forward, there will also be standing areas at UEFA competition matches for both teams.
That said, for all matches, the available allocation will be dependent on the venue, among other factors.
Upon the announcement of the decision, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf explained: "Standing areas are an important part of fan culture and the stadium experience in Germany.
"From our dialogue with fans, we know how great the desire for standing areas at international matches is. That is why, in recent years, we have strongly advocated within UEFA for the reintroduction of standing areas at international matches and tournaments.
"We are pleased to now be able to implement this wish together with our fans, and hope thereby to contribute further to the positive development of the atmosphere at international matches. In so doing, we are also creating another low-priced offer for our fans, because football is for everyone."
