Soccer - Politicians and clubs want to combat stadium violence
Politicians are no longer willing to stand idly by in the face of the recent riots in German stadiums. At a meeting on Wednesday with majority shareholder Martin Kind of Hannover 96 and president Nicole Kumpis of Eintracht Braunschweig, Lower Saxony's interior minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) made it clear that the current situation is "unacceptable". Politicians and the clubs want to get to grips with the problem through a joint working group.
"We can no longer accept this development," said Martin Kind. The issue has been on the minds of the professional clubs for years. "And to be honest, we have achieved very little so far," the 96 boss added.
Politicians, police and clubs agreed on a joint approach against violent offenders. Kumpis spoke of a constructive and very open discussion. Among other things, admission controls are to be stepped up and the infrastructure in stadiums strengthened. According to the Eintracht president, camera technology in particular "leaves a lot to be desired in many stadiums".
The police union in Lower Saxony (GdP) therefore called for more video technology in stadiums. The GdP state chairman Kevin Komolka told the "Braunschweiger-Zeitung" (Wednesday) that clubs should be held more accountable, especially with regard to the expansion of video and admission technology. Komolka also called for more training for security staff in the stadium.
From Wednesday to Friday, the interior ministers of the federal states will discuss the recent violence in soccer at their conference in Berlin. A few months before the European Championship in Germany, security representatives are hoping for tougher measures against violent ultra-groups. Fan representatives, on the other hand, criticize what they see as overly harsh police action against stadium visitors.
"I am very pleased that we are launching a working group," said Behrens. The aim is to work out solutions to prevent riots like the one that occurred during the last derby between 96 and Eintracht.
During Hannover's 2:0 derby win against Braunschweig at the beginning of November, both fan camps set off massive amounts of pyrotechnics, Eintracht supporters caused damage of around 150,000 euros in the stadium according to 96 and a police officer was seriously injured in a scuffle in the home area.
But even so, the clubs seem powerless in some cases against the actions of individual fans. While Hannover recently had to pay the German Football Association 600,000 euros for pyro offenses, Braunschweig incurred costs of around 300,000 euros. "We have to develop a new culture, it has to be non-violent, if possible with little or no pyrotechnics," said Martin Kind.
The demands come at a time when many matches in German professional soccer have recently been overshadowed by violent clashes. At the end of November, more than 200 people were injured in the first division match between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. At the match between FC St. Pauli and Hannover 96 a few days earlier in Hamburg, there were clashes between the police and fans inside and outside the stadium.
According to Interior Minister Behrens, the personnel costs alone for the deployment in the Lower Saxony derby between Hanover and Braunschweig would have amounted to around 1,000,000 euros. The politician confirmed on Wednesday that the clubs' participation in police costs would continue to be "an option" if there was no improvement. So far, only Bremen has done this among the German federal states.
Homepage of Hannover 96 Homepage of the 2nd Bundesliga
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Source: www.stern.de
