Germany players hadn’t entered Hannover stadium before it was evacuated over

No explosives were found in Hanover after the football match between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled due to threat of attacks involving explosives on Tuesday evening, Interior Minister of German state of Lower Saxony said.

Officials think a soccer match scheduled for Tuesday could have been the next target of ISIS attacks.

Later police confirmed the game had been called off, and that an unidentified object had been found in the stadium.

When heavily armed police evacuated the stadium, fans left in an orderly fashion and there were no reports of panic. Most fans were still waiting outside when the order to evacuate came.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as Economic Affairs and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and the interior minister, were scheduled to attend the match, but they had not yet arrived when the evacuation order was issued.

The incident comes four days after three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Stade de France in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis during a soccer match between France and Germany.

This is a developing story and it will be updated.

Germany’s Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere told a news conference: “The match was called off on my recommendation”.

Two Dutch ministers – the sports minister, Edith Schippers, and the defence minister, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert – were already in the stadium and were asked to leave.

“It’s a sad day for German football”, Rauball said.

The police chief, Volker Kluwe, said there was a “dangerous situation” across Hannover, one of Germany’s largest cities, and urged people to stay home.

Earlier on Tuesday, arrests were made in Aachen in relation to the Paris attacks. Reporters arriving for the game were searched, and a dog was deployed to check their bags. They were only informed later about the reasons for the cancellation. That was one of several terror attacks across the French capital Friday night that killed at least 129 people and wounded hundreds more.

The contingent of 80 Germans, including players, coaches and staff, then spent the night in the changing rooms of the Stade de France stadium, before leaving for the airport on Saturday morning.