Court rules clubs may charge fees

German soccer clubs will be able to demand fees from radio broadcasters reporting live matches from their stadiums following a court ruling yesterday.

The German Federal Court rejected a challenge from privately owned Radio Hamburg against a fee demand from the German Soccer League (DFL) for the right to broadcast live match reports.

It ruled that clubs were justified in charging broadcast fees for league matches when these were played in stadiums belonging to the clubs.

The challenge followed a demand for payment for coverage of games at stadiums belonging to Bundesliga club Hamburg SV and St Pauli, a Hamburg club which currently plays in the regional division, in the 2001/02 season. It had already been rejected by two lower courts in Hamburg.

Private radio broadcasters, which had backed the challenge by Radio Hamburg, said the ruling would threaten free reporting and said they did not rule out an appeal to Germany's top court.