Bundesliga teams are required to cover the cost of police for high-risk match courts

Germany’s federal Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that German soccer clubs must pay their fair part of higher policing expenses during high-risk games, resolving a debate that had been going on for more than ten years about who should pay the extra costs of such events.

According to the court, a 2014 Bremen law requiring clubs to cover their portion of these higher expenses was constitutional.

It dismissed the constitutional case brought by the top two professional divisions’ governing body, the German Football League (DFL).

The conflict stems from a rule passed in Bremen that mandated professional soccer teams to pay for the additional police presence needed for matches deemed high-risk and likely to cause crowd disturbances.

To now, Bremen is the only federal state to implement such payments for any significant, for-profit event that draws more than 5,000 people and has the potential to incite violence based on past behavior.

According to the DFL, “legal clarity” has now been established by the court’s ruling.

“The DFL will work to ensure that the relevant criteria are specified, and operational planning is made more transparent for those who could be called upon to pay fees for the additional provision of police forces,” the party stated in a statement.

“Fundamentally, however, there remains a common goal: safe major events with the lowest possible number of police deployment hours.”