Ahead of the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on the assumption of costs for high-risk football matches in the Bundesliga on Tuesday, the Police Union (GdP) is urging clubs to be involved. “We expect a landmark ruling” a GdP spokesperson told the Mediengruppe Bayern newspapers, “and this should also contribute to being able to hold the clubs accountable in the right way.”
The GdP sees the current situation as a danger to the country’s internal security: “The constant refusal of overtime and the permanent reallocation of forces to football matches are going at the expense of other tasks of internal security and the health of the police officers.”
However, politicians from various parties are warning of a far-reaching chain reaction that goes beyond the sport. “It’s a dam that could burst, going far beyond the sport” said Stephan Mayer (CSU), the sports policy spokesperson of the Union parliamentary group, to the Mediengruppe Bayern. “Security is a central state task, financed by taxes. This principle applies to football clubs as well, which have paid 12.6 billion euros in taxes and duties over the past ten years.” No one could seriously want a “partial withdrawal of the state from internal security” Mayer added.
Philipp Hartewig, the FDP’s sports policy spokesperson, also speaks out clearly against a cost-sharing arrangement with football clubs: “The protection of public safety is a state task and must not be passed on to private entities. Disaster prevention remains a core task of the state.”
Marcel Emmerich, the chairman of the Green Party in the Interior Committee, highlights the need for a nationwide regulation: “Who bears the costs for police deployments should be regulated uniformly and fairly across all German states.