DFL President Reinhard Rauball has announced that this weekend's Bundesliga action will go ahead as planned, despite Germany's fixture with the Netherlands being called off due to security reasons in Hannover.
Fear and panic spread through Europe after Paris attacks
In what were described as "serious plans to bring about an explosion" by the Hannover chief of police, Volker Kluwe, the high-profile match-up was cancelled with just two hours until kick-off. Speaking to NDR, Kluwe also said that: "There is a concrete situation of danger for all of Hannover." This followed after the stadium and a nearby concert hall were evacuated, as stories flew around as to what the cause of the trouble was. The city's police force later confirmed that no explosive devices had been found.
Fears around sporting events have hit a high after the suicide bomber attacks on the Stade de France during Germany's friendly defeat to the French on Friday, as it seems that the terrorists are keen to disrupt every walk of life. Nothing came of the attacks in Hannover, though 129 people lost their lives in Paris that evening to series of shootings and bombings. The police are launching raids in the city to try and find the leader of the plots.
Bundesliga set to go ahead in a bid to continue normality
In light of the acts, Rauball spoke to the press in a bid to shed light on the decision to pull the game and whether or not the German first division matches would take place. In what he called "a sad day for football" that has "changed the game in this country [Germany]", he remained defiant: "This weekend's Bundesliga action will go ahead as scheduled. While talking to the DPA, Rauball admitted he had "nothing but respect" for the decision and that "the safety of the people should always be priority number one".
Hannover 96 will not be playing at the HDI-Arena, where the incident took place, but instead are scheduled to travel to Westfalen and Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, with Hamburger SV and VfL Wolfsburg in close proximity to the effected stadium there may be extra security around their particular home games to ensure maximum safety. Die Roten's training has been postponed this morning in preparation for their game against the Foals, and has been shifted into the afternoon.
It is unclear as to why these specific games were targeted, although the presence of French President Francois Hollande and German chancellor Angela Merkel at the respective fixtures would suggest that they wanted to make a statement in front of the country's dignitaries.
This game became the second friendly to fall foul to security concerns on Tuesday. Belgium's friendly with Spain had already been called off after fears for safety, and the continuing search for terror suspects in the Brussels' suburbs in the aftermath of the Paris attacks meant that the game was never likely to go ahead. This is only the third time a German national team match hasn't gone ahead. Only against England in 1994 (security fears) and Chile in 2009 (Robert Enke's tragic death) has this happened before.