Prime Minister - Weil: I don't want a standing room ban in stadiums
In the debate about violence in soccer stadiums, Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil has called on the clubs to provide more security. "We have to talk about everything, including personalized tickets or more video surveillance," the SPD politician told the German Press Agency in Hanover.
We should also look to other countries, such as Great Britain, where the decision was made to only offer seats after problems with hooligans in the 1980s. "I wouldn't want that for German stadiums. But if the safety of spectators and the police cannot be guaranteed otherwise, then that must also be an option," said Weil, who is himself a big fan of Hannover 96.
Soccer clubs in the English Premier League have only been allowed to offer a limited number of standing places in the stadium on a regular basis since 2022, subject to certain conditions. These were previously banned by law for more than 25 years. The ban was largely due to the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield in 1989. At that time, there was a mass crush in an overcrowded stand, resulting in 97 deaths. After years of dispute over who was to blame, a court ruled in 2016 that the disaster was not an accident, but that the police were partly to blame due to misconduct.
Commenting on the German debate about passing on police costs to soccer clubs, Weil said: "The division of labor must be correct: The police are responsible for security and order in public spaces, but inside the stadium, the organizers are responsible." So far, only Bremen has passed on the police costs to the club.
At the beginning of December, the federal and state interior ministers also called on the professional clubs and the German Football League (DFL) to do more to combat violence in stadiums. In response to clashes between fans and police, the German Football Association had called on both sides to treat each other with more respect.
In Lower Saxony, riots at the second division derby between Hannover 96 and Eintracht Braunschweig in November caused particular outrage. Interior Minister Daniela Behrens said that the police had deployed 2,000 officers, equestrian units, helicopters and drones. "We had total costs of over one million euros for the police operation, and we still had a big pile of rubble," said the SPD politician, referring to injured police officers, destruction in the stadium and pyrotechnics in the fan blocks.
The clubs therefore had a duty to improve security precautions with structural measures, stricter admission controls and consistent stadium bans, said Behrens. The derby second leg in Braunschweig in April will be a crucial point for further consideration. If security is not guaranteed then, it will ultimately be necessary to consider charging for police operations, said the Minister.
The European Football Championship will take place in Germany next year. However, no matches will be played in Lower Saxony.
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Source: www.stern.de
