President Oke Göttlich from the second division soccer team FC St. Pauli has rejected calls for additional police costs to be covered for high-risk games.
“I consider this demand to be escalative and not thought through to the end, because internal security is a central state task,” he wrote in a guest article for the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “Who should decide which operations are paid for by major organizers and which by the state?”
In addition, it is the police who decide on the extent of the operation. “The organizers would have no say, but would have to bear the additional costs,” said the 47-year-old, who also sits on the board of the German Football League. “The organizer himself is neither a troublemaker nor did he cause the disruption. He should still pay.”
Now two high-risk games
In the past few weeks there have been violent clashes between fans and between fans and the police in the 2nd Bundesliga during the games Hannover 96 against Eintracht Braunschweig and FC St. Pauli against Hannover.
Göttlich’s club has two high-risk games coming up: On Saturday (1 p.m./Sky) the team will play at Hansa Rostock. The city derby against Hamburger SV is on Friday (6.30 p.m./Sky) next week.
Göttlich called for more commitment to prevention. Good experiences have been made in Hamburg “when authorities, fans, fire departments, medical services and the police meet in advance at eye level and enter into a dialogue.”
In other federal states, too, this measure has led to “the police being able to reduce their presence and operational hours.” Only if we refrain from “constantly pointing the finger at others” can we create violence-free game days for everyone involved.
