SEO title: DFB sets framework for police costs at high-risk matches
SEO description: The DFB will pass on at least part of police bills for high-risk fixtures to home clubs if it receives official charges.
The DFB has decided that home clubs will bear at least part of police costs from high-risk matches when the association receives an official bill. The ruling prepares for more German states to introduce charging systems similar to Bremen’s.
DFB sets cost-sharing principle
- In January 2025, the Bundesliga’s legal challenge against charging clubs for policing at high-risk matches failed at Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
- The judgment confirmed that states can invoice organisers for additional policing connected to high-risk events.
- Bremen has so far been the only state using that option against football clubs.
- Saarland’s state government is now planning a comparable regulation. North Rhine-Westphalia has previously backed a uniform nationwide approach.
- The DFB executive committee has therefore agreed that any police-cost notice sent to the association will be passed on, at least in part, to the relevant home club.
The association said it was generally required to do so under its duty to safeguard its assets.
Neuendorf still opposes police fees
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said the new arrangement is a contingency measure rather than an endorsement of the charges.
“If the DFB receives official notices for police costs, we will pass those costs on to the respective clubs,” said Neuendorf, 65. “Regardless of that, we still believe charging fees for police work is the wrong approach.”
He argued that politicians, police, associations and clubs should instead work together to improve safety around fixtures and reduce the number of police hours required on matchdays.
Neuendorf added that a fee system would not achieve either aim. The DFB continues to favour cooperation with public authorities and police services.
