Hundreds of 1. FC Köln fans, primarily from the active fan scene, criticized the strip searches conducted around the derby at Bayer Leverkusen (0–2) and boycotted the match. Fanhilfe speaks out clearly.
Following the fan boycott during the Rhine Derby between Bayer Leverkusen and 1. FC Köln, the Cologne Police clarified the sequence of events from their perspective. A police spokesperson stated that a man being searched had taken off his pants on his own.
On Saturday, in response to a dpa inquiry, the police stated that, contrary to reports from fan circles, there had been no “body searches.”
Fanhilfe Köln wrote on X on Saturday: “After strip searches took place, the active fan scene decided to leave the stadium en masse.”
In protest against the police action, around 500 people from the active Cologne fan scene left the stadium en masse before kickoff. On Sunday, Fanhilfe contradicted the police’s account, citing a fan affected by the incident with whom they were in contact.
“If a person is asked during a police check to remove all clothing and remain only in underwear, and if a view of the genital area is subsequently taken, then—regardless of the official designation—this is, according to common understanding, a strip search,” stated Fanhilfe in its statement. The measure constitutes “harassment of soccer fans.”
In a statement released by the police on Sunday, it was reported that a man had been stopped in the visitors’ section for attempting to enter without a valid ticket. During a superficial search for identification documents in the area of his pants pocket, suspicious objects were felt on the 24-year-old. When asked to produce them, the man took off his pants and handed the officers a mouthguard and two bandages that he had been carrying in his underwear.
Fanhilfe, in turn, asks whether the police were searching for tickets in the intimate area. After 500 people from the active Cologne fan scene had left, the Bayer ultras also left the arena during the first half. According to Leverkusen officials, the regular admission checks in the visitors’ section proceeded “calmly and without incident.”
The statement from Fanhilfe Köln
Following the allegations by Fanhilfe Kölsche Klüngel, the police have publicly stated that no strip searches were conducted in connection with the admission checks of soccer fans. However, this account contradicts the description provided by an affected fan with whom we are in contact.
We therefore clarify:
If, during a police check, a person is instructed to remove all clothing and remain only in underwear, and if a view of the genital area is subsequently taken, then—regardless of the official designation—this is, by common understanding, a strip search.
According to the police, the measure was intended to identify the fan. In fact, however, the search took place because the fan in question could not produce a valid ticket. Against this backdrop, a central question arises: Was a search for one or more tickets actually conducted in the genital area?
We clearly label this measure for what it is: harassment of soccer fans—excessive, inappropriate, and in no way proportionate. Furthermore, when staff members from the social-educational fan project who were present and became aware of the measure were asked about it, they were told otherwise, preventing them from accompanying the fan and fulfilling their actual duties.
We expect the police to provide a transparent and accurate explanation of such measures. Euphemisms do not contribute to clarification. Instead, what is needed is a serious examination of the issue of proportionality and the degrading effect of such checks.