The city is preparing for the 2024 European Football Championship. Almost a week before the Munich games are drawn, the district administration department (KVR) is presenting its municipal security concept. The city council should provide a good five million euros on Tuesday so that there are sufficient rescue workers and supply capacity. The scenarios range from injuries after fan riots to terrorist attacks. The police plan their deployment separately, but there is coordination with the city at interfaces.
The Euro 2024 groups will be drawn on Saturday evening from 6 p.m. in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Then it will be clear who will play the four preliminary round games in the arena in Fröttmaning. The German national team will open the tournament there on June 14, 2024 at 9 p.m. against a currently unknown opponent. This will be followed by three preliminary round games on June 17th, 20th and 25th. A round of 16 (July 2) and a semi-final (July 9) are also scheduled in Munich. Immediately after the draw, the second round of digital ticket sales starts, on Saturday at the European Football Association Uefa and on Monday at the German Football Association (DFB).
Not only football fans, but also those responsible for the security forces are likely to be looking forward to Hamburg with excitement; after all, the potential danger of a game also depends heavily on the teams involved. Regardless of this and based on the games at Euro 2021, the city’s preparations are already in full swing. Under the direction of the Fire Protection Directorate, the fire brigade and rescue services are also preparing for extreme scenarios with many seriously injured people.
The normal supply of the population is used as the basis for operational readiness. Because there will be many celebrating tourists in the city, it is likely that even more patients will need to be treated for everyday incidents. Beyond this scenario, planners must have the capacity to ensure the care of a large number of casualties in the event of an NBC attack or multiple attacks at different locations in the city. The empirical values, for example from the attack during the international match between France and Germany in Paris in 2015, from the terrorist attack at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin or the actions of the right-wing extremist attacker in the Olympia shopping center in Munich, served as a realistic template.
Possible assassins should not have any advantage in knowledge
But those responsible are not only concerned with the worst attack scenarios, but also, for example, with the serious clashes and street battles that raged at the 2016 European Football Championship in Marseille. According to the security concept, rescue workers must also prepare for “mass escape movements”, for example due to a thunderstorm, for spontaneous celebrations on the streets after successes or for many people collapsing due to extreme heat. Details of the operational plans are also known to other decision-makers such as the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior and the police, but are not disclosed to the public in order not to give possible attackers a head start in knowledge.
To guarantee public safety, the professional fire department will need to work a lot of overtime, but also the deployment of all emergency services in the city. However, the KVR is convinced that this will still not be enough. On match days, “sub-local resources and forces from the administrative district and beyond would also have to be requested and made available,” says the template for the city council.
Those responsible are expecting costs of around 5.6 million euros
The costs that have to be borne by the city amount to 5.6 million euros. The rescue workers have to use this money to rent additional vehicles, increase emergency medical supplies and organize additional ECG machines. Employees involved would also have to complete exercises and attend training and further education. The city had originally expected more than seven million euros, but the KVR did not have to use this framework.
Separate from the city, but in close consultation, the Munich police have been preparing for the major Euro 2024 operation for some time. The first Germany-wide networks have been running since 2020; according to a spokesman, a separate coordination office has been set up in the presidium itself. The various work packages are currently being completed alongside the daily tasks. The closer the tournament gets, the more the workload will continually increase and then become top priority shortly before the opening game.