comment
Professional football clubs must contribute to the costs of police operations, says the Federal Constitutional Court. To ensure that the gap between rich and poor clubs does not become even greater, there must now be a uniform regulation. A comment.
The judges of the Federal Constitutional Court have drawn a line under an almost ten-year-old legal dispute. In special cases, the federal states are allowed to collect fees from football clubs for the use of police officers. The ruling initially only applies to the Hanseatic city of Bremen; it is limited to high-risk games with more than 5,000 spectators.
But the decision will have a significant long-term impact on all Bundesliga clubs. Other federal states such as Hamburg and Rhineland-Palatinate have already announced that they will follow Bremen’s model of charging fees. And Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, which have so far spoken out vehemently against the police fee, will hardly be able to afford to take special paths.
There is little understanding among the population that taxpayers are asked to pay when football fans fight. Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach must expect to receive bills for police operations in the foreseeable future.
Good reasons for clubs to get involved
There are good reasons why politicians and lawyers believe it is right for clubs to contribute to the costs of police officers. The football industry in Germany has a turnover of more than five billion euros and pays its best employees double-digit million salaries per year. Clubs should be able to pay fees if the police provide security even in the most heated derbies – after all, the feeling of being able to move safely in and out of the stadium is what makes football enjoyable for you mass audience.
The police therefore guarantee the business of the entertainment company. And in the future, the clubs should only pay a fraction for special riot games – added up for all Bundesliga clubs, it’s not much more money than Bayern Munich pays its best kicker.
The opponents also had good arguments
But opponents of this police fee also had good arguments. Why should only football pay and not the companies at Oktoberfest? And who can guarantee the clubs that the states do not want to fill their empty coffers by charging the clubs for police officers, water cannons, horses and helicopters?
In addition, it is not so easy to quantify the costs of riot operations: there is a risk of a bureaucratic monster if the police authorities have to bill each operation individually. And what is often forgotten: German football is not all glitz and glory. There are also clubs that find it difficult to keep up financially. They will have no choice but to save the police money elsewhere. Or to ask their followers to pay even more.
The DFL is now called upon
Legally there is clarity. It’s good that the Karlsruhe judges have now made a verdict. But the disputes over police fees are far from over. The judges have set guidelines, clubs and politicians now have to find practical solutions. As quickly as possible and without getting caught in each other again.
Above all, the DFL, the German Football League, as the representative of the interests of all professional clubs, is now required to get uniform regulations – for example by setting up a fund into which all clubs pay and from which the fees are paid. It would be a bad signal if the cost of police fees widens the gap between rich and poor clubs – if traditional clubs like Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV or Hannover 96 are burdened with additional millions in expenses every year and clubs like RB Leipzig and TSG Hoffenheim or VfL Wolfsburg will be spared.