The Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court overturned the limit on large outdoor events to a maximum of 500 people on Friday.

The third division football clubs Eintracht Braunschweig, SV Meppen and VfL Osnabrück have filed a lawsuit against this corona rule, which Lower Saxony has adhered to as part of a special path.

The Lüneburg judges now partially agreed with the clubs.

A rigid limit to a maximum of 500 people is inappropriate given the current incidence of infection and a constitutionally unjustified interference with the freedom to practice a profession.

Reinhard Bingener

Political correspondent for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen based in Hanover.

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The country's highest administrative court argues that in the open air, at least in very large venues such as football stadiums, there are sufficient opportunities for more people to keep the required distances.

A rigid five-hundred limit puts larger events at a disadvantage compared to smaller ones, without there being any objective reason for this.

The state government also failed to take into account that there is generally a lower risk of infection outdoors than indoors.

However, the judges refused to generally allow stadiums to be used up to half their capacity.

In the future, the local authorities will now have to decide on a case-by-case basis.

In the past, the Lüneburg court had repeatedly lifted the restrictions on the red-black state government of Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) in Hanover, which had been following a particularly cautious course for months.

In the current decision, too, the Lüneburg judges only take into account excerpts of the state government’s overall consideration, which, when limiting capacity, was by no means just about the risk of infection during the football game, but also very much about the stay of fan groups indoors during the arrival and departure Departure.

In addition, at many football games, distance rules and the obligation to wear masks are only sporadically observed and fans are crowded around and shouting loudly.

The decision of the Lüneburg judges is final.