If you enjoy doing dumb stuff at profession football matches, you’ll want to steer clear of Germany because the German Federal Court of Justice has given clubs the ability to sue fans for their wrongdoing during matches. And Bundesliga side Cologne are making use of this newfound ability in an effort to recoup some of the money they had to pay out as a result of an idiot injuring seven people with fireworks during a 2014 match against Paderborn.

From the BBC:

The Bundesliga club were fined 50,000 euros by the German football association (DFB) after the incident in 2014.

They were also ordered to invest a further 30,000 euros in measures aimed at preventing violence.

The club expressed their approval of the court decision, saying “the ruling gives us as a club much needed legal certainty regarding the question as to whether we can pass penalties imposed by the DFB on to those who were originally responsible”.

According to The Sun, the dummy with the firework originally received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of about €3,800. So, compared to the club, he got off light. Now they look to balance the scales a bit more by seeking €30,000 in their lawsuit.

I’m curious to see how this will be abused.