Professional football can be asked to pay: The federal states are allowed to charge their police costs for high-risk games. The Federal Constitutional Court (BVG) in Karlsruhe announced this judgment on Tuesday.
This puts an end to the ten-year-long dispute over fees. “In this way, the additional costs of police operations should not be borne by taxpayers as a whole, but in any case also by the economic beneficiaries of police operations. This is a constitutionally legitimate goal.”said the chairman of the First Senate, Stephan Harbarth.
In 2015, the state of Bremen submitted an invoice (425,000 euros) for a police operation for the first time to the German Football League (DFL) after the derby between Werder and Hamburger SV. The DFL defended itself against this, but had to accept legal defeats before the Higher Administrative Court in Bremen and the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. The proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court opened in April 2024.
The DFL leadership had already prepared for defeat.
“It will not happen that the clubs from the federal states in which these costs are not charged pay into a solidarity pot.”said DFL supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke – thereby rejecting a joint fund for professional clubs: “That is the responsibility of the individual state governments.”
The expected dispute over payment of the costs could be the end point of a discussion that has been simmering since 2015. The league argued in vain that ensuring public safety outside the stadiums was a core state responsibility that should generally be financed through tax revenue.
Sharp criticism from fan representatives
There was also strong criticism from fan representatives. The union Our curve took the verdict after a statement “stunned to note”. It is to be feared “That this caused serious long-term damage to the state order of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the opinion of Unser Kurve and in accordance with the views of countless experts, ensuring public security and order is a core task of the state.” According to the tax state principle, this guarantee must be provided from tax resources. And German professional football is already making its contribution here – most recently to the tune of around 1.6 billion euros per year.
“Today’s ruling turns police work into a simple service. It is now essential that the clubs are given decision-making power in police operational planning and that oversized police operations finally come to an end.”said chairman Jost Peter. Speaker Thomas Kessen remarked almost cynically: “We now expect annual invoices from the Free State of Bremen to the organizers of the Bremen Freimarkt. The Munich Oktoberfest, the Cologne Carnival and the New Year’s Eve parties at the Brandenburg Gate must also be invoiced to the organizers. Whether we as a society want this, however, is doubtful – and today’s verdict is just as doubtful.”In fact, it is a cardinal question what impact the ruling will have on all major events where there is an intention to make a profit.
Bremen’s Interior Senator Ulrich Mäurer ultimately won
Bremen’s Interior Senator Ulrich Mäurer has billed the DFL for almost two million euros over the years. Werder had to pay half of this to the league association, the rest was deferred for the time being. Since Mäurer has been confirmed in his practice of writing invoices, he is likely to find further supporters in other federal states.
Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate in particular are considered candidates. However, those responsible are striving for a nationwide uniform solution. Mäurer has therefore proposed an annual contribution from the DFL of around 20 to 30 million euros in the form of a fund. That is roughly the amount that is incurred for the approximately 50 high-risk games in the Bundesliga and the 2nd league per season.
However, the state of Berlin does not plan to share the costs of police operations in high-risk games. Interior and Sports Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) clearly differentiated herself from Comrade Mäurer: “We will evaluate the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling and its justification as soon as it is available. However, my position still applies that the state of Berlin does not plan to share the costs for clubs in additional expenses for police operations with regard to high-risk games.”
1,000 to 1,500 officials are usually deployed at such games.
In the past, Mäurer received support from the state audit offices, which recommended the Bremen approach to all federal states. Ultimately, Mäurer’s request is not out of the blue in the European context – clubs in Italy and France, among others, are being asked to pay. However, the possible practice whereby clubs may or may not have to pay for police costs in the future, depending on their federal state, is likely to lead to an outcry from the affected clubs.
But Watzke is already rejecting the accusation of distortion of competition. “As the DFL, we cannot solve such issues. In principle, distortion of competition can be anything.”the managing director of Borussia Dortmund told Sport Bild: “If one has a bigger sponsor than the other, some people see that as a distortion of competition. Or take the different tax rates. We have to leave the church in the village.”