The Associated Press, among other outlets, is reporting that the friendly between Germany and Netherlands in Hanover has been cancelled and HDI Arena is being evacuated. The decision was made about an hour before kickoff was scheduled. According to The Independent, an unattended suitcase "found in the vicinity of the stadium" prompted police to clear the stadium.Germany's friendly vs the Netherlands tonight has been cancelled for 'security reasons'.https://t.co/AQOm3xyKXi pic.twitter.com/UxmTYD2x1I
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 17, 2015
Germany faced France last Friday at Stade de France when three suicide bombers detonated explosive vests in the area outside the stadium, setting off deadly attacks throughout Paris. German chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet were set to attend the game tonight. As of right now, the scheduled friendly between France and England at Wembley Stadium is still scheduled to proceed.We will update this post as more information is made available.Update (2:27 PM): According to a local German newspaper report (run through Google Translate) a known instigator was seen on the pitch, and there was an ambulance full of explosives parked outside the stadium. Kreiszeitung.de is the only outlet reporting this information right now. Hanover police chief Volker Kluwe informed reporters that the match was cancelled and the stadium evacuated because they received a "concrete threat" of an "explosives attack."Update (5:20 PM): There remains some confusion about what actually happened in Hanover—authorities are not commenting on many specifics—but Lower Saxony interior minister Boris Pistorius has told reporters that there were[](<blockquote class=)[German Interior Min: no explosives found inside](<blockquote class=) #Hannover stadium— katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler)November 17, 2015" target="_blank">no explosives found[](<blockquote class=) [German Interior Min: no explosives found inside](<blockquote class=) #Hannover stadium — katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler) November 17, 2015 " target="_blank">insidethe stadium and "It can not yet be confirmed that there was an ambulance or another vehicle with explosives inside." Here's a little bit more fromThe Telegraph:The Choreography at HDl Arena for Germany vs Netherlands game. [SPORT1] #GERNED pic.twitter.com/10tUavLFwb
— Home Bayern (@HomeBayern) November 17, 2015
There was information some 30 hours in advance that a group known as the "North Africans" were planning an attack on the match using automatic weapons and suicide bomb vests at the entrances to the stadium, the newspaper reported.
French intelligence subsequently alerted German security forces that an "Iraqi sleeper" was planning an attack on the game, and officials decided they had no choice but to call it off.