Hesse removes responsibility from clubs for police costs at games!

Hesse removes responsibility from clubs for police costs at games!

In Hesse, the financing of police operations in high-risk games is passed on to taxpayers. Interior Minister Roman Poseck from the CDU announced that football clubs would not contribute to police costs for these special events. This decision did not come as a surprise to many, but it still met with widespread criticism and was viewed as difficult to understand. The discussions between security authorities and clubs have proven successful, but the impression is that the country is ducking the issue of operational costs.

A recent incident between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart in November 2023, which was accompanied by riots, does not seem to have had the necessary consequences in retrospect. There are concerns that clubs are not having enough of an impact on the violent fan scene, which is bringing the publicly called for review of police costs back into focus. Given the different positions, such as those from Bavaria, uniform federal solutions are considered unlikely.

Federal Constitutional Court and fee regulations

An important cornerstone for the current discussion comes from the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling of January 14, 2025. The decision that charging a fee for additional police work at high-risk games in Bremen is compatible with the Basic Law is not seen as encouraging by the German Football League (DFL). Their constitutional complaint was unsuccessful because the fee regulation, which has been in place since 2014, is aimed at profit-oriented, large-scale events at which the police have to mobilize additional forces due to expected acts of violence.

The amount of the fee is based on the additional effort for the police force. In 2015, for example, a fee notice of around 425,000 euros was issued for a game between Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV. Even though the decision was subsequently examined in court, the Federal Administrative Court confirmed its legality in 2019, albeit with a reduction in 2021 to around 385,000 euros.

Public opinions and future perspectives

In the public debate, there are repeated demands that “rich football” should be made to pay more for such police operations. It is also being discussed that the Bremen fee regulation could serve as a model for other federal states, although such initiatives have so far been rather reserved or even rejected. The reason for this is legal uncertainty and fundamental questions about the financing of security, which have not yet been satisfactorily resolved.

The combination of football events and publicly borne security costs raises questions: Are all violent incidents actually attributed to the clubs, or are they often social problems that go beyond the playing field? There are always critical voices demanding that such fees require special justification, which currently seems to be missing from the discussion.

The debate about the financing and responsibility of clubs is also continuing in Hesse. Until a possible nationwide solution is found, participation in police costs remains a hot topic - and taxpayers must bear the consequences.