In the life of a football fan there are many things that outsiders can only shake their heads at, events that no one believes unless they have experienced them themselves. I’m at the stadium every week, so I see firsthand what police harassment means. Although I’m hardly one of the clientele that the mean police officer tends to harass. An increase in this seems hardly conceivable.
I mean. But that is not the case. What Fanhilfe Hannover has now made public is not possible. Last week was the big traditional derby between the 96ers from Hanover against the Royal Blues from Gelsenkirchen. Several thousand Schalke players had announced that they would spend the night before the game in the Lower Saxony state capital. Which brought the law enforcement officers into action, because nothing should escape their control.
The Fanhilfe Hannover published a letter from the police to the German Hotel and Restaurant Association. The subject says: “Please help.” Hoteliers were asked to report to the police as soon as guests from the zip code areas 45879 to 45899 checked in. After all, these are likely to be violent guest fans. Sure, the fan thinks: Anyone who comes from such a region and spends the night in Hanover before the game is certainly up to no good! Bowling club, bachelor party, company outing – it doesn’t matter. If you’re unlucky, the tub will be in front of the hotel and your personal details will be checked when you leave.
This again shows how the police think about football fans. Even if the “request” to the hoteliers was legally permissible, it still falls into a gray area under data protection law. We can only hope that only a few hoteliers followed the police’s request and that the majority instead devoted themselves professionally to entertaining and looking after their guests. Under no circumstances should they allow themselves to become henchmen of the police.
“Sport free!” from the fan advocate.
