Fußball 101: Die Polizei
Several recent court cases are putting the policing of football under harsh scrutiny. Are German authorities disproportionately targeting fans and clubs?
Several recent court cases are putting the policing of football under harsh scrutiny. Are German authorities disproportionately targeting fans and clubs?
The Filth. Bobbys. Peelers. Pigs. The Fuzz. Coppers. Plods. Apparently, in Manchester, Dibbles? These are just a few of the derogatory monikers you might hear levelled at police officers on English terraces.
In Germany, the most common slang for the ‘Polizei’ is ‘Bullerei’ loosely translating as ‘The Bulls’. While the language might not be as varied, the distaste for the boys in blue by fans can be just as fierce.
The 2023/24 season saw several acts of football-related violence enacted on, or by, police forces across Germany. The prospect of hosting an international tournament brought policing and fan safety under intense scrutiny from supporters groups, organisers and the authorities.
Several high profile court cases have intensified that focus raising profound questions on the relationship between the game and the authorities. How should data be used to track potentially dangerous fans? Are fan liaison professionals liable for the criminality of their club’s followers on the terraces? Who should front the additional policing costs of ‘high risk’ fixtures?
Distrust, conflicting narratives and increasing force
Broadly speaking, German society places trust in its police force. A 2023 OECD survey found 64% of the country’s citizens have faith in the police, higher than other institutions such as the central government (36%) or other civilians (54%). The Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF; trans: German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) found the police has the highest trust of any German institution within the country’s refugee population. While there is little tangible research to suggest the relationship between football fans and police is more fractious, events of the past 18 months would clearly suggest that is the case.
On the 25th November 2023, 200 people — including 100 officers — were injured in a clash between stewards, police and fans outside Eintracht Frankfurt’s Waldstadion. Un-ticketed Eintracht fans were attempting to enter the stadium, leading to clashes with security. When officers attempted to intervene, they were attacked with bottles, metal barriers and pyrotechnics.
In the 2.Bundesliga, a game in Rostock was delayed for 30 minutes after travelling Schalke hooligans broke down the plexiglass divider between home and away fans with a hammer. Further instances of unrest have been met with far harsher response. Fans in Hamburg and Cologne were both controlled using pepper spray during the 2023/24 season. Prior to the Euro 2024 draw, fans at HSV unveiled a massive banner: “Also in the hat for today’s draw: police violence”.
Who’s to blame? Jochen Kopelke, chairman of the German Police Union is quoted by The Guardian:
“We have noticed in recent months that some fans alter their behaviour in the presence of the police, reject dialogue and resort to violence. Simple instructions are not followed, leading to violent attacks on police. The violence is terrifying and not to be trivialised.”
Dario Minden, a representative of the fan group ‘Unsere Kurve’ is also quoted:
“We should always take responsibility and not deny there is potential for violence among some problematic fan groups. But it’s a multifaceted problem to which there are no simple solutions. Unfortunately, you often feel as a fan the police are part of the problem and not the solution.”
Assigning blame doesn’t change the facts, or the perception each part holds of each other. Violent crime in Germany is 17% higher on matchdays. Police forces and the powers that be are pursuing draconian responses which sometimes slip into ‘unconstitutional’ acts. Jost Peter, Unsere Kurve’s 1st Chair, summarised the mood when speaking to the Bundesletter in 2024:
“Many feel German police start with the position that every football fan is a criminal. They behave like this at the games. They are coming dressed for a civil war.”
Court Case #1 — Database of Violent Sports Criminals deemed unlawful
In October 2024, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court delivered a landmark ruling when it deemed a database containing the data of ‘violent sports criminals’ to be partly unconstitutional.
The "Datei Gewalttáter Sport” was first introduced in 1994, and since 2006, all police forces in the country have used the data store to help track potentially dangerous fans’ movements around football games. Despite the name of the database, many fans felt the threshold to have your details logged was far too low and didn’t exclusively punish the most violent of fans, but instead those who’d committed minor instances of civil disorder.
For example, a case referenced in the linked article tells of a Werder Bremen fan who was barred from travelling to a European fixture after he was cautioned for graffitiing a bus in 2010. Stephanie Dilba, one of the named plaintiffs in the case and a member at TSV 1860 München said, "After this important ruling, football fans like me will hopefully no longer end up in a police database so easily." Dilba was never charged with a crime, and she said her presence in the database left her feeling stigmatised.
The court ruled the database did not show ‘an appropriate storage threshold and sufficient specifications for the storage period’. The German government has until the summer of 2025 to enact upon the court’s findings, and draft new legislation on the appropriate collection of football fan’s data.
Court Case #2 — Fanprojekte workers charged for ‘role’ in pyrotechnic display
In September of last year, two Karlsruhe ultras were sentenced to jail time for their role in a pyrotechnic display. The demonstration, held during a November 2022 fixture against St. Pauli, resulted in eleven people — including one child — needing treatment for smoke inhalation. One of the ultras was sentenced to a year without parole, the other was given a two month sentence. It’s the first instance of any football fan receiving a custodial sentence for a pyrotechnic offence in German history.
Subsequently, three workers at the KSC Fanprojekt — franprojekte are club-affiliated organisations that conduct a form of social work, advocating on behalf of fans, helping younger people manage deal with problems that arise around football — were charged and fined for their part in the event. None of these workers were involved in the demonstration, nor did they know the identities of the ringleaders before the event. As social workers, they felt they couldn’t betray the trust of the fans, and as such, declined to give evidence. The three ‘guilty’ parties: Sebastian Staneker, Sophia Gerschel, and Volker Körenzig, each received a small fine and a criminal record for failing to comply with the investigation. As Gerschel told the Guardian, this was not to shield the instigators, but rather protect their ability to act as confidants for the wider fanbase:
“They talk to us and trust us. They don’t talk to police, security or other authorities. We can translate what they want, what they are thinking, because we are in the middle. And we can be critical with them, like with the St Pauli game, saying: ‘This wasn’t good, people cannot get injured, we need to talk and find a solution.’ We can do this but the police and the club cannot. It needs social work to connect and interpret.”
This persecution of social workers tangentially associated with the acts of fans on the terraces could set a dangerous precedent. Over 70 clubs have associated fanprojekte. These projects steer young people away from hooliganism and extremism. If new social workers are afraid to carry out this crucial work for fear of prosecution, is the state creating more opportunity for dangerous elements to recruit impressionable fans?
Court Case #3 — Court of Appeal confirms clubs must foot the bill for ‘high-risk’ games
Earlier this week, the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal by the DFL against the practice of asking clubs to pay additional policing costs in ‘high risk games’.
This saga started over a decade ago when the city-state of Bremen billed the DFL for €400,000 after a Bundesliga match between rivals Werder Bremen and Hamburg. Subsequently, the local government passed the Fees and Contributions Act, a law which stipulates organisers of for-profit events of more than 5,000 people who have a reasonable expectation of violence may be charged for additional policing costs. While the DFL successfully challenged this law in 2017, the highest court in the country ruled it did not violate Germany’s Constitution.
‘High risk’ games are designated by the home team. This typically covers derby matches or historic rivalries. The costs for private security and police officers stationed within the stadium are paid by the clubs.
This decision only applies within the jurisdiction of Bremen in practice, but it is thought the ruling will result in other states pursuing a similar course of action.
Unsere Kurve’s statement said, “this will cause serious long-term damage to the state order of the Federal Republic.” Peter added, “Today’s ruling means police work is generating into a simple service. It is now essential that clubs are given decision-making power in police operational planning and that oversized police operations finally come to an end.”
Eric Huwer, a board member at HSV said: “We respect the verdict of the Federal Constitutional Court even if we are irritated by it, as it calls into question the national security architecture. Public security must not be privatised. HSV already bears the full costs for event security at the stadium and in the immediate vicinity. However, events in public spaces are beyond our responsibility and influence, regardless of the occasion.”