Security conference
Violence in football: DFL Commission should issue stadium bans in the future
Pyrotechnics remain banned in football stadiums
© Federico Gambarini / DPA
Political and football representatives want to take stricter action against violent criminals. Fans are sometimes critical of the decisions made at the meeting. But they can breathe a sigh of relief on one point.
With dark faces, Bernd Neuendorf and Hans-Joachim Watzke listened to the introductory and critical words of Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann. After three hours of a partly controversial debate, the top representatives of the DFB and DFL seemed less tense – and not dissatisfied. At a football security conference in Munich, sports and politics agreed on stricter action against individual violent perpetrators. Contrary to great fears in advance, fans will be spared from collective action for the time being.
Central Commission for Stadium Bans
A central commission will issue and monitor stadium bans in the future. This is the most important result of the consultations at Munich Airport. The position will be located at the German Football League. It was said that the composition, working methods and other details still need to be worked out.
“In the future, it will no longer be up to the individual clubs whether proceedings are initiated and whether they consider it necessary to issue a nationwide stadium ban,” said Herrmann (CSU), who invited people to the meeting as chairman of the Conference of Sports Ministers. One of the politicians’ criticisms of the clubs in the first three leagues was that they did not take consistent action against rioters – or even took action.
“That was a real breakthrough,” summed up Saxon Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) and announced that he would be in more regular contact with football representatives in the future. “I’m leaving Munich with an extremely positive feeling.”
Neuendorf: Integrate fans into commission
The top meeting had been viewed very critically in advance. Clubs and fan representatives accused politics of populism. According to the DFL, in a representative fan study, 96 percent of stadium visitors said they felt safe during a match day. “Football as a whole does not have a problem with violence,” even Interior Minister Herrmann said.
With an exaggerated comment, DFB boss Neuendorf tried to react to some of the harsh formulations from politicians in advance. “No, the meltdown has not occurred yet and will not occur.” But he admitted: “Every case is one too many.” He wants to involve fans in the work of the new commission in the future. “We have to turn those affected into participants,” said Neuendorf.
According to the Central Information Center for Sports Operations (ZIS), almost 26.5 million people went to games in the Bundesliga, the 2nd league, the 3rd league, the DFB Cup and UEFA club competitions in the 2022/23 season. 1,176 injuries were registered, 220 of whom were police officers. There is not yet a balance sheet for the most recent 2023/24 season.
No collective punishment and pyrotechnics are still prohibited
Football representatives were able to fend off a political demand: some federal states proposed collective punishments such as ghost games or partial closures of stands in order to deter fans who were prepared to be violent or riot-seeking. According to Herrmann, this was only briefly discussed but not discussed further. In other European countries such as Italy, parts of the stands – for example for away fans – are repeatedly blocked. However, a significant decrease in riots cannot be observed.
Sport and politics agree completely that the use of pyrotechnics remains prohibited. “It’s simply dangerous,” said DFL supervisory board chairman Watzke. The clubs are the organizers of games “and therefore we cannot allow that. That is completely clear and it has very little to do with the actual football game.”
Football fans don’t think innovation is effective
The fan association immediately criticized the results of the meeting. “The formation of a central commission announced today to deal with stadium bans means a significant tightening and more repression against football fans,” said Linda Röttig, board member of the umbrella organization of fan aid. “Stadium bans are already largely imposed completely arbitrarily and without completed legal proceedings. The DFB and DFL are far too far away to be able to assess incidents individually. If this approach is now even tightened, it will massively contradict the principles of the rule of law. This approach will be opposed Fans will fight back decisively.”
The fan organization “Our Curve” also does not consider the innovation to be effective. “Local stadium ban commissions have proven themselves for more than ten years,” it said. Furthermore, sticking to the ban on pyrotechnics would remain ineffective. “Exactly what was predicted by the fans has now happened – populist demands are being trumpeted, but expertise is nowhere to be seen. That’s what happens when you don’t talk to each other, but only about each other,” said the spokesman for “Our Curve”, Thomas Kessen.
