Bundesliga: 20% decrease in violent behavior and a third of the number of victims in 2012/13

The number of injured fans in the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga (German second division) for the 2012/13 season fell by almost a third, and violent behavior by 20%, according to the annual report of the ZIS (centre for information on police interventions in sport in Germany), published on the 14/10/2013.

The number of victims of injury during matches in the first and second divisions fell from 1,142 in 2011/12 to 788 in 2012/13 (- 31%). For the same period, the number of court proceedings initiated for violent behavior also dropped from 8,143 to 6,502 (- 20%). In 2012/13, 6,837 custodial sentences were imposed.

"The amount of man hours spent policing German Bundesliga matches in the last ten years has nearly doubled from 900,800 to 1.75 million. Our long term goal is to reduce the number of police," said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The decline in violence in the first two German divisions is mainly due to the relegation of some clubs (including Alemannia Aachen), which has resulted in an increase in violence of over 50% in the third division.

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