The conflict over Pyro in German football continues to escalate. In the stadium curves it burns more than ever. The Federal Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal against the fines paid by the DFB to the clubs.
Bengalos, firecrackers, flares – at the DFB Cup final last Saturday (03.06.23) between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rasenballsport Leipzig, fans of both clubs set off massive amounts of pyrotechnics. The balance sheet according to the Berlin police: 36 injured emergency services, who would have suffered, among other things, blast trauma and smoke poisoning.
The DFB will probably ask the two clubs to pay for burning pyro in their fan curves. And that although the association itself was the organizer of the final. So the association pronounces a penalty for something that it could not prevent as the person responsible in this case.
The DFB as the organizer should actually impose a penalty on itself. Because when the association imposes penalties on clubs, it usually refers to the fact that the clubs, as organizers of league games, have a duty to ensure safety and to prevent the prohibited burning of pyrotechnics.
Legal remedies exhausted
This practice has caused trouble for years. The regional league club FC Carl Zeiss Jena, on the other hand, has defended itself legally. The club, which in the past had to pay around 100,000 euros in fines to the DFB for pyro offenses by its supporters, referred to the principle: “No punishment without guilt.”
The club, so the argument goes, is doing everything possible as an organizer to prevent pyro in its own stadium. Even increased stadium controls, the use of sniffer dogs, or night watches before risky games would not have helped in the end. That’s why the club is not at fault. However, the courts did not want to follow FC Carl Zeiss Jena through all instances.
The way to the Federal Constitutional Court (BVG) has now failed. A constitutional complaint by the club was not accepted for decision. In response to a request from sportschau.de, the BVG stated that the complaint was inadmissible. With that, legal recourse is exhausted. But the conflict over pyrotechnics remains unresolved.
DFB sees itself strengthened
For many fans, Bengalos are a cultural asset, for the German Football Association (DFB) they don’t belong in the stadium. According to the DFB guidelines, the firing of pyrotechnic objects costs 1,000 euros in the Bundesliga and only 350 euros in the 3rd division. In total, the DFB imposed fines of around two million euros in the 2019/20 season, which the DFB always donates to charity.
The association sees the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on this question as recognition that the fines imposed by the sports court are not to be regarded as penal-like sanctions for past misconduct by supporters. But as a preventive measure to prevent future riots by viewers.
The question of what this decision means with regard to the ongoing and controversial pyro debate in German football is left unanswered by the DFB. The season that has just ended has made it clear that the stadium curves are increasingly burning. The taz reports that in March 2022 alone, almost 440,000 euros in fines were paid in the first three professional leagues. Almost three times as much as in March 2019.
No dialogue
The fan organization “Unsere KURK”, in which active supporters from the Bundesliga down to the regional league have come together, therefore sees an urgent need for discussion. The 1st chairman Jost Peter emphasized on sportschau.de request that the way through ordinary courts will not solve the problems: “The fact that FC Carl Zeiss Jena took this route to the Federal Constitutional Court shows once again how urgently we need to talk constructively about the matter.”
For the DFB, on the other hand, it is now ultimately ensured that the in-house legal bodies can continue their work accordingly. This also includes the support and participation of the clubs who have access to their supporters and “Can influence this.”
For “Our Curve” has the associated status quo “Counting Torches and Accounting” no effect. Much more there has long been a lack of a structured and resilient dialogue on the subject between fans, associations and clubs. It had already existed in 2011, but the DFB broke off the dialogue with the fan initiative “Legalize pyrotechnics” without giving a reason.
New advances have so far fizzled out
In the meantime, more and more managers from the Bundesliga are calling for a rethink. “You won’t achieve anything in the football scene with bans”made the coach of 1. FC Köln, Steffen Baumgart, recently clearly. And added that the problem, as it is currently being tackled, will definitely not be solved.
Hertha President Kay Bernstein also spoke out in favor of a partial legalization of Pyro last autumn. Bengalos should be burned in a controlled area for this purpose. Werder President Hubertus Hess-Grunewald has already expressed similar ideas. However, so far all these attempts have fizzled out.
There have already been role models for constructive solutions abroad. When Rapid Wien from the Austrian Bundesliga was allowed to use 50 flares “free” per home game until 2018, the illegal use of pyrotechnics at the club fell by 90 percent. But in the meantime there is a strict ban on pyrotechnics there too. But that doesn’t stop the fans there from continuing to ignite massive Bengalos in the stadium curve.