Stadium alliance bears first fruits

''We're on the right track,'' said Badem-Württemburg's interior minister Thomas Strobl at a bilateral event in Stuttgart, his words acting as a handy summary of the first impressions of the local stadium alliance which was launched a year ago. Admittedly there is a lot of work still to be done, but the interior minister thought it important to stress that ''Going to a football match is and remains a safe and secure experience for young and old, for the whole family.'' So-called stadium alliances were launched in order to ensure a high level of security at football matches. The initiative remains the only one of its kind across the whole of Germany.

The concept has also met with the approval of the DFL. The DFL's managing director, Christian Seifert, believes that the project sets a good example. ''All of those involved are pursuing a common goal: an invariably high level of security at all football matches, with an appropriate level of police deployment.'' Recent studies have confirmed that spectators feel safe in the stadium, and they are highly accepting of the deployment of law enforcement.

30,000 hours of police work saved

TSG Hoffenheim's managing director Frank Briel points out that ''at TSG, to accompany the long standing and successful guarantee of security, an additional dialogue network has been launched. This encompasses all involved parties, such as the club, the city, the police and the fans.'' The objective of this close collaboration is to highlight the role which each party has to play, whilst also creating a sense of transparency on site at the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar Arena in Sinsheim.

Interior minister Strobl has praised the participating clubs for ''the courage, the hard work and the determination they have shown to bring about this partnership and to implement change.'' It is also important to overcome ''skeptical glances and critical opinions.'' ''Mental barriers'' had to be torn down and cynics had to be convinced of the new approach. The CDU politician also highlighted the first concrete results. Last season in the top five leagues, more than 3,800 emergency services personnel and roughly 30,000 hours of work were saved, whilst registered criminal offences decreased by 11 percent to 602. 

Praise from interior minister Thomas Strobl

The president of VfB Stuttgart Wolfgang Dietrich also drew positive initial conclusions from his club's perspective. ''I'm really happy that over the course of the past year the number of security related incidents has clearly gone down and that we've been able to simultaneously reduce police presence and engagement time. As a club, we will do all we can to ensure that this trend continues.''

''I welcome the initiatives at VfB and TSG. The cooperation of fan projects is an important part of the stadium alliances. We want to create a sense of understanding for each other's work and each other's requirements,'' said interior minister Thomas Strobl. However, it's also evident that this is still a work in progress: ''I would say we're still working things out - there can always be setbacks.'' Police expenditure remains very high at football matches.

Shifting the costs of policing - the wrong approach

In the context of the current discussion regarding the costs of policing high risk matches, the CDU politician made it clear that guaranteeing public security is the duty of the state. Shifting the costs of policing for football matches is the wrong approach. ''Forcing football clubs or associations to pay for police operations won't increase security at football matches, and it also won't make things easier for the police. It's far more important that we have an intensive and cooperative collaboration between all actors involved in security - that's the right approach,'' explained Strobl.