The DFB may not impose any stadium bans if these are based only on a recommendation of the police, but otherwise lack any factual basis. This was decided by the AG Frankfurt a.M. in the case of a Hanoverian fan.
The Local Court (AG) Frankfurt am Main has decided that a stadium ban can be invalid if there is no sufficient factual basis for concern about future disturbances .
A fan of the Bundesliga club Hannover had sued 96. He and 177 other Hannover fans had arranged two days before kick-off on a parking lot for the common journey. The meeting was peaceful, enemy fans were not present. The police carried out an inspection of all vehicles and occupants, whereby no prohibited or otherwise dangerous objects were found in the plaintiff’s possession. An investigation procedure was not initiated. The fan was never and never has been noticed by the police, especially as a football fan, or was found to be negatively conspicuous in any form by the German Football Association (DFB) or a Bundesliga club. The DFB must not rely on the subjective assessment of the police.
Nevertheless, the man was held for one night and the police ordered him and all other fans to leave the area of the city of Braunschweig. Because the police had found masquerade objects, boxing bandages and other objects in the area of the parking lot, they later recommended the DFB to ban all 177 fans from the stadium. After hearing the fan, the DFB complied and issued a nationwide stadium ban in September 2017, limited until March 2019.
The AG now decided that the man has a right to have the stadium ban lifted. It lacks a factual basis. It is true that the DFB is in principle free to decide on the access of third parties to stadiums. However, the exclusion of an individual may not be without objective reason and not arbitrarily. According to the AG, the DFB must establish its own factual basis and must not rely on subjective assessments by the police.
The expulsion of the plaintiff from his place alone was not sufficient in the specific case, since apart from the plaintiff and his detention, there were no facts justifying the man’s concern about future disturbances. Even if dangerous objects were found in individual vehicles during an inspection, they could not be attributed to 177 persons without further knowledge. The court ruled that the DFB had issued a blanket judgement without there being a sufficient factual basis for pronouncing a ban on stadiums. Royal Ace Casino has a wide selection of games designed to suit every type of online players.