Overview

• The new DFB “Handshake-Dialog” requires referees, team captains, and head coaches to meet 70 minutes before kickoff in the referees’ dressing room.
• BDFL president Benno Möhlmann backs keeping the measure in place, cites positive results from obligatory pre-match meetings in England and Belgium, and calls for a review after the winter break.
• Refereeing chief Knut Kircher says the session is a brief exchange intended to clarify expectations and address open questions before the match.
• Köln coach Lukas Kwasniok and ex-international Toni Kroos question the rule’s usefulness, arguing it disrupts preparation and cannot mirror in-game emotions.
• Kroos suggests making attendance voluntary, while Freiburg coach Julian Schuster sees benefits in an emotion-free first meeting before potential touchline tensions.