Frost chaos in Gifhorn football: games are canceled across the board!

Frost chaos in Gifhorn football: games are canceled across the board!

A frosty weekend almost brought the football world to a standstill in the Gifhorn district. Practically all games in the region were canceled at the weekend, as az-online.de reported. After three nights of sub-zero temperatures, the pitches were hard and unplayable, which led to a veritable flood of cancellations. Referees pulled the ripcord and both players and coaches showed great understanding of the situation.

The encounters between TSV Brechtorf and SV Teutonia Tiddische were particularly turbulent, as they initially hoped to be able to play their games. But shortly before kick-off the referee's decision came: the games had to be canceled. Coach Sören Henke from TSV Brechtorf said that this decision made sense because the pitch conditions were sometimes extremely poor. Rock-hard, uneven ground poses risks to the health of players.

Training instead of games

The coach of VfL Wahrenholz, Marcel Neumann, also described that the pitches had a dangerous mix of hard and soft earth. The SV Hankensbüttel game was also canceled, although the pitch looked green from the outside; the frozen ground made it unplayable. Sebastian Seidler from FC Ohretal decided to cancel the game against TSV Hillerse II and quickly moved the training session indoors - a circulation-friendly solution to keep the players warm.

These freezing conditions can affect the mood on the pitch, although the challenges are not just weather-related. In the background, there are also positive developments in amateur football: The German Football Association (DFB) reported a decrease in incidents of violence and discrimination in the 2024/2025 season. In total, only 829 games were abandoned due to such incidents, a decrease of 9% compared to the previous year.

Despite the decline: doubts about the numbers

In a discussion about the DFB figures, Axel Zimmermann, head of the Bochum football district, expressed doubts. He reports that youth games in particular are often stopped due to attacks by supervisors or spectators. The DFB statistically recorded less than 0.06% of the approximately 1.286 million games as canceled - the lowest level since the end of the corona pandemic.

However, there are also critical voices: Criminologist Thaya Vester criticized the accuracy of the DFB data and raised the question of how many games are actually documented electronically. In addition, the excessive demands placed on referees when reporting incidents are often a major problem.

In order to promote violence prevention, the DFB introduced the captain's rule and the STOP concept. While 93% of those surveyed considered the captain's rule useful, 88% expressed agreement with the STOP concept, which gives referees the right to stop for a calming break. These measures have been positively received in amateur football, which is a nice step in the right direction.

The topics of weather and violence prevention may seem different, but they both show how important the general conditions are in amateur football. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop next winter - and whether football in the Gifhorn district will soon be able to boast full pitches and happy faces again.