Germany’s highest court has rejected an appeal by the company that operates the Bundesliga against having to pay for policing costs of “high-risk” football matches.
The decision handed down by the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on Tuesday means that German authorities may require Bundesliga football clubs to foot part of the bill for games designated as being at a high risk of violence.
In doing so, the court rejected an appeal by the German Football League (DFL), which operates Germany’s top two football leagues against a 2014 decision by the city state of Bremen.
Since then, Bremen’s Fees and Contributions Act has stipulated that the authorities may bill organizers of for-profit events of more than 5,000 people which could be reasonably expected be associated with violence.
Constitutional Court President Stephan Harbarth said in the ruling that the Bremen regulation was compatible with Germany’s Basic Law, as the aim of the regulation is to shift the costs to the party that has caused them.
German football matches are classified as high risk when violence is expected between fans from the teams involved.
Possible knock-on effect
The DFL received the first notification in 2015 for a Bundesliga match between northern rivals Bremen and Hamburg. The city state of Bremen billed the DFL for around €400,000 ($410,390) in policing costs. The total amount of billing since then has reached more than €3 million.
The DFL had initially successfully challenged the law in 2017. However, Bremen’s right to pass the costs on to football clubs was subsequently upheld twice in higher courts. It has now been upheld by Germany’s highest court.
