Pyrotechnics in the football stadium? "Ban is not an argument for the Ultras"

The fans are back - and with them the pyrotechnics. Every weekend football fans burn flares in the stadiums. For example last weekend, when the curve of the FC Bayern Munich fans lit up red for a few minutes.

"The fan scenes were incredibly happy to be able to go back to the stadium without restrictions - and also celebrated their own return with pyrotechnics," says fan researcher Jonas Gabler, explaining the recent increase. The so-called Bengal fires are considered by the fans to be a "stylistic device" that has accompanied the ultra culture for many years - and thus, in addition to flags and coordinated singing, characterizes the atmosphere in the stadiums.

Only: Burning is forbidden. The German Football Association (DFB) regularly imposes high fines on the clubs through its sports jurisdiction. In addition, there is a risk of viewers being excluded if it is repeated. The reason for this for the DFB are the dangers that can emanate from the more than 2000 degree hot flares. "The ban is not an argument for the ultras to stop using this tool," says Gabler.

Calls for a legal solution keep coming from the professional clubs. "Pyro is a form of expression for young football fans, for subcultures that use it as a stylistic device," Hubertus Hess-Grunewald, President of Werder Bremen, recently told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". He stimulated a debate about a controlled and legal use of pyrotechnics in order to "break the escalating spiral of repression and criminalization". These initiatives also resulted from “economic pressure” from some clubs, says fan researcher Gabler. But the “feeling for fan interests” is to be welcomed.

Support comes from the Bundestag. "The safe and controlled use of pyrotechnics can increase a stadium experience for everyone," says Philipp Hartewig, sports policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group. The focus continues to be on “the safest possible football fun for everyone”. Bans and collective penalties have had no moderating effect, which is why a legal solution "in defined areas and by qualified people" is the better way, Hartewig believes.

Despite the dangers, pyrotechnics are "part of the lively fan culture," says Philip Krämer, deputy chairman of the sports committee. The Green considers a "debate on the responsible and safe use of pyrotechnics" to be useful, for example as part of the further development of the "National Concept for Sport and Safety" agreed in the coalition agreement.

Sabine Poschmann, sports policy spokeswoman for the SPD, emphasizes the dangers of uncontrolled burning. However, it has been shown that bans and penalties do not reduce the phenomenon. Poschmann told WELT that "the legal burning of pyrotechnics within very narrow limits" should be considered in test runs.

There will soon be such a test in Berlin: The red-green-red Senate agreed in the coalition agreement on "a one-year pilot project for the safe use of pyrotechnics or cold pyrotechnics in football games". These alternative torches only heat up to around 200 degrees and have already been used legally in Denmark.

The Berlin proposal is still being voted on internally, the Senate announced when asked by WELT. According to a spokeswoman for the Senate Department for the Interior, Digitization and Sport, it is also hoped that knowledge will be gained with regard to “the question of nationwide legalization”.

In the Federal Ministry of the Interior, however, these experiences are not expected, despite the different signals from the traffic light groups. "The firing of pyrotechnic products in stadiums and on the travel routes to the stadium poses significant health and safety risks for football fans, security forces, police and football players," said an Interior Ministry spokeswoman. Legalization is out of the question for the SPD-led department.

In the opposition in the Bundestag, opinions on this differ widely. The left welcomes a legal solution, but is skeptical that this will not affect "the health of those present and the game on the lawn". In addition, it is clear: "The conditions imposed and, if necessary, bans must be observed as long as they apply," said sports policy spokesman André Hahn. The AfD, on the other hand, calls for "legalization with security requirements", according to their sports policy spokesman Jörn König. "The fans pay for football, so they have a say."

Only the Union insists on a "zero tolerance policy", as Fritz Güntzler (CDU), chairman of the Union faction in the sports committee, says: "Pyrotechnics have absolutely no place for me in a stadium with thousands of people," says the CDU politicians and calls for tougher penalties.

The German Football Association relies on a strict ban and emphasizes the dangers of pyrotechnics. The association reports that they are interested in a safe stadium experience and in exchange with the clubs. It requires a "high level of coordination between the organizer, the authorities involved and fans" to enable officially approved burning - "also to prevent groups of people who demonstratively reject any controlled burning of pyrotechnics from counteracting corresponding actions," said the DFB WELT .

Fan researcher Gabler believes that a ban on pyrotechnics can only be enforced "with legally, practically and financially disproportionate means". He stimulates a discussion about legal ways of use. Projects like those in Berlin or 2020 in Hamburg are the first steps. The clubs would have to take on a mediating role.

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