High-risk game: Police officers are standing in front of the Weser Stadium in April 2015 during the match between Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV. Photo: Carmen Jaspersen
(Photo: dpa)
Bremen If the German Football League (DFL) loses its lawsuit in court, it would cost many millions of euros. At the heart of the oral hearing is the question: Who pays for security at football games? Bremen thinks: The Bundesliga also has to pay for particularly risky games with an increased police presence. The DFL counters: Public safety and order is a state task.
So far, the small city-state is an isolated case. Bremen is the only federal state to demand reimbursement of the additional police costs for high-risk games. The outstanding amounts calculated by the Hanseatic city since 2015 already amount to around 1.2 million euros for four games. The calculations for two more games are still pending. Extrapolated for the particularly explosive games of 18 first and 18 second division teams, it would very quickly be in the high double-digit million range.
Why are the people of Bremen the only ones asking for money for police operations? “They are clammy and are looking for solutions,” taunted Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and drew the anger of the Bremen colleague and party friend for this casual formulation.
Like the other interior ministers of the federal states, Pistorius believes that the neighboring country’s initiative is simply “wrong”. The politician said: “If the state can no longer guarantee the safety of events, then it must ban them.” The Lower Saxony Minister of the Interior and Sports emphasized the “state’s monopoly on the use of force”.
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Bremen’s Interior Senator Ulrich Mäurer (SPD) reiterated his position: “We do not see that the enormous police costs associated with the implementation of the Bundesliga are borne solely by the taxpayer.”
Reinhard Rauball, president of the league association and boss of the DFL supervisory board, countered: “We are of the opinion that this is not legal.” The DFL believes that acts of violence in football are “a general problem affecting society as a whole”.
The case under discussion is about the northern derby between Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV on April 19, 2015, which was secured with a lot of police effort. Bremen had sent the costs of 425,718.11 euros to the DFL in a notification of fees. In turn, she complained in April 2016.
It is unlikely that a judgment will be made in May. The decision would definitely be contestable. “We will only get an initial interim result,” Mäurer suspected. “The DFL announced two years ago that they want to go through all instances. In this respect, there will be no final decision.”
Also on the Weser one notices that one leads the fight as the only federal state. But if the city-state were to win in the final instance and the Bundesliga had to pay, then there would be a precedent. It would then be as exciting as the case itself to see whether the other federal states would actually maintain their previous reluctance.
Appointment administrative court Bremen
Press release from the Interior Senator of June 24, 2015
DFL statement of claim July 2016
