German ministers demand urgent football reforms or face harsh penalties
Pressure is growing on German football authorities over fan behaviour and slow reforms. Interior ministers from North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony have warned the German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) about stricter action. Their demands include faster changes to stadium bans and even financial penalties for clubs.
Herbert Reul, interior minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, criticised the DFB and DFL for dragging their feet. He claimed that many proposed reforms had been reduced to just one measure on stadium bans. Reul made it clear that any further weakening of the resolution would not be accepted.
His counterpart in Saxony, Armin Schuster, echoed the frustration. Schuster described his attempts to work with football officials as repeatedly being rejected. While he opposed charging clubs for police costs, he admitted the pressure was building due to ongoing fan incidents and football's lack of decisive action. Both ministers stressed that their warnings were not empty threats. Possible measures include invoicing clubs for policing, imposing event bans, and enforcing stricter stadium regulations. Reul set a deadline, demanding a new stadium ban policy by the next interior ministers' conference in mid-June. Despite the strong rhetoric, no federal state has yet formally submitted demands to the DFB or DFL.
The DFB and DFL now face a tight timeline to introduce stricter stadium bans. If reforms fail to materialise, clubs could see financial penalties and event restrictions. The ministers' warnings signal a potential shift in how fan-related costs and security are handled in German football.
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