On Friday, two Bundesliga matches in Germany were canceled due to heavy snowfall that rendered stadiums unsafe.
A match featuring St. Pauli against RB Leipzig, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed as Hamburg faced severe snow conditions, with further snowfall anticipated.
Shortly after, the league announced that Werder Bremen‘s game against Hoffenheim would also not take place on the same day.
St. Pauli stated that although they had made every effort to ensure the game could proceed safely, this ultimately was not feasible.
The club highlighted that, despite attempts over several days to clear the snow, concerns about the safety of removing it from the stadium’s roof were significant.
They also noted that canceling the match could alleviate pressure on emergency services, transport infrastructure, and the healthcare system. In the current league standings, Leipzig is positioned fourth, while St. Pauli is in 16th place.
Bremen explained that the presence of ice and snowdrifts made it unsafe to hold the game at their 42,000-capacity stadium, raising issues such as icy concourses, blocking of emergency exits, and travel challenges for fans.
The league has committed to announcing new dates for the postponed matches “shortly.”
Snowfall impacted northern and eastern Germany on Friday, with continued accumulation expected overnight. Long-distance rail services in the northern region were halted, and road travel faced significant disruptions.
The match between Union Berlin and Mainz remains on schedule for Saturday, despite fans stepping in to clear snow and ice from the team’s stadium earlier in the week.
This weekend marks the first games after the Bundesliga’s winter break, while the women’s Bundesliga continues its break until January 23.
A men’s basketball match set for Saturday in Hamburg was also canceled after the arena was closed due to concerns about snow accumulation on the roof, as stated by the German league.
Another basketball team, Syntainics MBC, expressed their discontent for being compelled to travel for a game scheduled for Saturday after their request for postponement was denied, labeling the 430-kilometer (267-mile) trip to Oldenburg as “dangerous.”
In the Netherlands, a top-tier soccer match between NEC Nijmegen and Utrecht was canceled earlier due to weather forecasts. While other top Dutch league matches for the weekend will proceed, several second-division fixtures have been postponed.