According to the report, the tie descended into chaos around the 90th minute after a flashpoint involving players.
The report says 85 people needed medical treatment, including 33 police officers, and that 1,400 officers had been deployed for a fixture already viewed as high risk.
German football thrives on atmosphere, edge and tradition, especially in cup ties where local feeling can boil over fast. But there is a clear difference between hostility in the stands and scenes that endanger supporters, players and emergency staff.
If the details in the report are borne out, this was not merely a case of emotion getting the better of a rivalry. It appears to have been a breakdown in crowd control severe enough to interrupt the match itself and force a major security response.
Hagel’s words were blunt, and deliberately so. The minister also added, according to the report, that those involved would be dealt with under the law, while offering support to injured officers: “Meus pensamentos estão especialmente com os policiais que se feriram no cumprimento do dever. Melhorem logo e obrigado pelo serviço.”
The next step will be the one that matters most: what authorities, clubs and competition organisers do before the next high-risk fixture arrives. German football will now be watching for consequences, and for signs that this cannot happen again.