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Local News Summary of July, 19th

  • Football remains more important at St. Jakob-Park than open-air concerts
  • Alleged espionage of Basel policeman not proved

 

Football remains more important at St. Jakob-Park than open-air concerts 

Large rock and pop concerts are rare in Basel these days. However, this is not due to poor infrastructure, but is rather because of the densely packed football calendar at St. Jakob-Park.

Michael Jackson: Twice. The Rolling Stones: Twice. U2: At least twice. Those were the days when big concerts were held in Basel.  Back then, the concert location was always the St. Jakob stadium, and the music could be heard as far away as Birsfelden and Muttenz. Supertramp performed there when they were still a super group, and Simon & Garfunkel made a stop in Basel during their last reunion tour. And Prince, of course, played there in 1990.

But these times are over. In 2013, Metallica stepped onto the stage in front of 40,000 fans at the new St. Jakob-Park, but this was more of a one-off: Prior to that, the last big rock concert in Basel had been AC/DC in 2001. And that’s about it. In the meantime, German hit singer Helene Fischer sang at St. Jakob-Park, but for the rest of the time it has been either football or silence. 

Helene Fischer, once again

Popular singers such as Céline Dion, Ed Sheeran or superstar bands such as Coldplay and U2 nowadays give concerts either in the Stade de Suisse in Bern, in the Letzigrund in Zurich, or further away in Geneva. Even the still functioning military airport at Dübendorf has hosted singers. With space for 40,000 fans, the St. Jakob-Park could certainly compete with other Swiss stadiums, and its proximity to the border would be very attractive for concert organisers. “It is always a joy when there are concerts in Basel,” Sabine Horvath, the location marketing manager of Basel-Stadt, said. Well, next year at least Helene Fischer will return to Basel. “We are happy that this concert is happening,” Thomas Dürr, manager of the agency Act Entertainment, said.

This is because it is not easy to book St. Jakob-Park for a concert. The time slot for big events is limited: “The availability of the stadium is the most important topic for potential concerts,” Mrs Horvath says. FC Basel, it turns out, enjoys absolute priority – and hence the stadium must be kept free for possible international football games. In the stadium, football has an almost religious status. And if you look at the success and the popularity of the club, you understand why the footballers want to keep their turf intact. 

After all, the FCB subsidiary Basel United is stadium operator. But it isn’t only the biggest stadium in Basel and its affinity for sport that provides an obstacle. Increasingly, concert organisers also criticise the city of Basel for being an inadequate spot for events. Compared to Zurich and Bern, concert costs in Basel are too high. For example, event organisers have to pay the police a lump sum for security measures in Basel. In Zurich, the costs are calculated only after the concert and take into account the active involvement of the police during the event.

The city disagrees: Basel is not more expensive

Another argument against Basel is that the cost of public transport should be included in concert tickets. Sabina Horvath replied: “Costs-fees regulations were examined in 2001, and the competitiveness of Basel was markedly increased. Since then, Basel does not suffer a locational disadvantage compared to other major Swiss cities.” But in the end, the lack of concerts is mainly caused by the success of the FCB – especially on an international level.

And who knows, perhaps Bern and Zurich fans would also prefer Champions League nights instead of Coldplay. But there is a slight sliver of hope for concert agencies such as Good News or Act Entertainment. Maybe the new FCB president Bernhard Burgener is more open to events and is not just fixated on football like his predecessor, Bernhard Heusler. As the head of multiple companies, Burgener is not only an entrepreneur but is also a successful events marketer. And he will know that there are far bigger international acts that would like to perform in Basel than Helene Fischer.

Alleged espionage of Basel policeman not proved 

Allegations of spy activities against a Basel cantonal police officer have not been proved. The security assistant accused of Erdogan-supporting activities did retrieve data illegally but did not pass it on, the public prosecution department has said.

The public prosecution has now closed its criminal proceedings against the police officer, the department announced in a statement on Tuesday. There was no evidence that the 37-year-old Turkish citizen handed over confidential data to third parties or conducted any activity connected to intelligence services.

Penalty order because of malpractice

However, the security assistant will not escape some form of punishment. The public prosecution has issued a penalty order because of repeated malpractice. The accused had retrieved personal data without official authorisation in 160 cases, the statement said.

According to the public prosecution, despite extensive investigations it was neither evident why the traffic officer had retrieved the data from the police computer system, nor what he did with it. The data related mostly to foreign citizens.

The public prosecution did not provide any information on the penalty order on Tuesday, stating that it was not yet legally binding. The security assistance has ten days to appeal against the order. If he does, the case will be heard in the Penal Court.

The security assistant had become the subject of investigations due to his Erdogan-supporting activities in April. He was taken into custody but released after one day because there was no reason for arrest. The cantonal police of Basel-Stadt has suspended him from his duties until further notice. 

Reluctant reactions of the police

Due to his Erdogan-friendly presence on the Internet, the police officer had already raised the suspicion of the intelligence services in late summer 2016. Both the Cantonal and Federal intelligence services had become aware of his activities. However, there were no concrete clues for illegal activities at that stage.

Despite this, the management of the Basel police was informed by the Federal Intelligence Service about the matter. This was because it was "deemed that the activities of this person were suspicious, considering his profession”. In June 2017, an independent report commissioned by government member Baschi Dürr accused the police management of having underestimated the crucial relevance of this information.

He Mr Dürr, the head of security and justice, had already parted ways with police commander Gerhard Lips at the end of May, prior to the publication of the report. Mr Dürr stated that this step had nothing to do with the security officer's case.