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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Schnix54 on 2025-09-23 11:50:40+00:00.
Three cases – representative of an enormous grey area in which adults in soccer continue to cross boundaries, harm children and young people, and use physical and emotional violence.
New research by CORRECTIV and 11FREUNDE reveals a massive abuse problem in German soccer: hundreds of children and young people have been affected in recent years alone. The editorial teams evaluated current criminal proceedings: more than 100 victims were subjected to over 1,360 assaults. In addition, nearly 500 people who experienced violence in soccer as minors contacted us.
These experiences range from violence in the 1970s to 2025 in amateur soccer and in the youth departments of professional teams. Almost none of the incidents described have been investigated by the authorities. Many of them probably do not involve criminal offenses, but rather ethical violations. In other cases, no charges were filed despite the violence.
In most cases, coaches are named as perpetrators.
The experiences of those affected paint a picture that has not been seen with such clarity before: in most cases, it involves sexualized violence in a power imbalance, perpetrated by male coaches against children and young people entrusted to their care, but coaches, referees, and player agents are also named as perpetrators.
The spectrum of offenses includes secret filming, sedation with medication and drugs, touching in intimate areas, sexual acts, and rape. The assaults took place both on the soccer teams’ club premises and in private rooms and soccer camps.
However, other forms of violence are also involved: racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic remarks, slaps, punches, body shaming, food deprivation, severe bullying, and other forms of humiliation that resulted in psychological suffering or, in numerous cases, physical pain.
These findings are based on hundreds of testimonials evaluated by CORRECTIV and 11FREUNDE. They come from people who experienced violence in soccer as children or teenagers.
The editorial teams spoke at length with more than 40 victims – mostly players, but also family members, former teammates, friends, club officials, and representatives of soccer associations. In addition, the reporters evaluated more than a dozen court rulings, analyzed chat histories, and listened to voice messages.
And yet, the actual extent of the problem in soccer, by far the most popular sport among children and young people in Germany, can only be guessed at. This is because there has not yet been an independent investigation in Germany that sheds light on the full extent of sexualized violence in organized soccer. The results of this investigation provide the first systematic overview – and at the same time raise new, pressing questions. How can young footballers be better protected from violence in the future? What do the regional associations of the German Football Association (DFB) and clubs need? Are young footballers particularly at risk, or is this simply a reflection of the abuse of power in society?
For the first time, in response to our investigation, the DFB and the independent review commission are now addressing abuse in soccer.
The light field: The opaque criminal proceedings
No one in Germany knows how often coaches or other people involved in youth soccer end up in court for allegedly committing violent assaults against children entrusted to their care. To date, there has been no separate record of such crimes.
CORRECTIV and 11FREUNDE submitted inquiries about such criminal proceedings to 50 regional courts, several local courts, and 30 public prosecutors’ offices. It became clear that specific proceedings could only be named if the responsible persons from the judiciary could remember specific cases or reconstruct cases from press reports.
This made it possible to document the following 37 criminal proceedings involving violent crimes against minors in soccer since 2020. The actual number of criminal proceedings is likely to be even higher. These include ongoing public prosecutor investigations and court proceedings that are currently being heard or have already ended—in most cases with a final judgment.
The accused coaches were active in both amateur and professional sports structures, for example in the youth teams of Union Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt, SSV Jahn Regensburg, and 1. FC Magdeburg.
In at least 23 cases, final judgments have already been handed down. The penalties range from fines to prison sentences of several years.
The judgments reviewed by CORRECTIV and 11FREUNDE reveal recurring strategies used by perpetrators. Power imbalances and relationships of dependency play a central role in numerous investigations, such as the concern of young soccer players that they will no longer be selected if they defend themselves. Many perpetrators used threats.
Their strategies were often similar: Gradually, coaches blurred the lines between sports and private life. Through walks, video games, a visit to the sauna, initial physical comments and touching. What may initially feel like a boundary violation is gradually normalized. This behavior is known as grooming and, in the documented cases, served as preparation for sexual abuse.
Allegation in North Rhine-Westphalia court case: Coach pretends to be a police officer
A case is currently being heard at Essen Regional Court in which a former youth coach is in the dock on charges of alleged physical abuse and serious sexual abuse of children.
The coach mainly worked with children from immigrant backgrounds and, according to the allegations, pretended to be a police officer in addition to his coaching activities. He threatened the children that something could happen to their family members if they told anyone about the abuse.
The coach is said to have committed his crimes in various cities in the Ruhr area, as reported by Sportschau. This is not an isolated case. Several coaches appear in the criminal proceedings who are alleged to have committed assaults at various soccer clubs over a period of years until the investigating authorities prosecuted them.
Last year, a ruling by the Munich I Regional Court made headlines. A coach at TSV Neuried had raped underage youths for years under the guise of alleged physiotherapy treatment. When the club’s board found out, they dismissed the coach. However, the club did not report the incident to the police until about a year later, as reported by WDR. The players and parents were also not informed of the suspicion. The accused coach subsequently worked for two other clubs, where he may have committed further crimes.
The coach has now been legally convicted and sentenced to seven years and six months in prison. In response to an inquiry from CORRECTIV, the public prosecutor’s office stated that, in addition to the cases of sexual violence at TSV Neuried, the coach was also investigated for offenses “at a high school and at two sports clubs.” Since these alleged additional assaults would not have increased the sentence, the investigations were dropped after the verdict.
The unknown number: Hundreds of reports show only the tip of the iceberg
To better understand the actual extent and recurring patterns, CORRECTIV and 11FREUNDE conducted a survey on experiences of violence in youth soccer. Between March 25 and August 1, 2025, nearly 500 people responded via CrowdNewsroom, an online platform developed by CORRECTIV. The survey is not representative, but it does provide insights into the extent and forms of violence in soccer.
Recurring patterns can be identified in the experiences of violence described. The child and youth players reported experiences of violence in clubs throughout Germany. In numerous cases, specific clubs are named, which our editorial teams have assigned to the relevant regions. The map of Germany shows where these experiences of violence originated.
“A teammate and I were visiting our coach,” writes a former youth player from Bavaria, who was under 14 at the time. “He often sought contact with the players in private. That evening, he showed us a pornographic film on his computer and seemed very interested in whether watching the film would cause me to have an erection.”
A female amateur soccer player, who was a minor at the time, reports on experiences she had a few years ago in Saxony: “It was below freezing. All the substitute players were allowed to wait inside and only had to go outside to play,” she recalls. Only she had to wait outside the entire game for her eagerly awaited substitution—which never came. “I got so cold that my mother took me straight to the hospital after the game. My toes were saved from dying just in time.”
Another player reports on experiences at a Berlin soccer club in the F-youth league around the turn of the millennium. After an injury, a coach insisted on treating the boy at home. There, he was told to lie naked on the bed. “When I was lying on my stomach on the bed, he started massaging my legs towards my buttocks. He was interrupted when my grandmother called him and asked where I was.”
The incidents described rarely had criminal or other consequences. Several victims reported that the accused were able to remain in the club or simply transferred to another club. Various responses reveal that some clubs and parents apparently had a culture of actively looking the other way, and that club officials did not have to fear any consequences despite seriou…
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