Refugee controversy in Hamburg

As a growing number of refugees arrive in Germany, authorities in the northern port city of Hamburg have received a declaration from the city's main sports association, HSV, requiring them to "cease and desist" from extending a refugee reception center further into its parking lot near the stadium, the daily "Hamburger Abendblatt" reported on Saturday.

Upon receiving the document, authorities stopped setting up tents in the area near the Volksparkstadion, the paper reported, with negotiations to follow.

The HSV's media director, Hörn Wolf, was quoted by the paper as saying that the association had offered to allow some of the car park to be used for extending the Schnackenburgallee reception center, but that the city had appropriated more than had been agreed upon.

If the HSV were to lose the car park, it could cause considerable problems with traffic, Wolf said in the quoted remarks.

The "Hamburger Abendblatt" said that staff in the city administration were angry at the legal action taken by HSV. It quoted them as saying that the HSV leases the parking lot from the city and only uses it a few days a year.

Vehement defense

The HSV has defended its stance, saying in a statement published on its website on Saturday that it was wrong to create the impression that the association was hostile to refugees.

"We are completely aware of the refugee problem, and have cooperated, are cooperating and will cooperate fully with the city of Hamburg to meet our obligations," said Dietmar Beiersdorfer, the head of HSV's soccer section.

He said it was "not a question whether more areas should be made available, but where," and that agreement should be reached on how this could be done in a manner that was most compatible with the needs of spectators at the stadium and the city's requirements.

Beiersdorfer said in the statement that the HSV had already presented a proposal on the matter.

'Unfair criticism'

The association was also supported by the district branch of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which said in a press release that criticism of HSV on social media was "more than unfair."

HSV had "contributed greatly in the past to housing refugees" and would certainly continue to do so in the future, the SPD press release said.

HSV, which includes a prominent Bundesliga soccer team, is the fourth largest sports association in Germany.

According to Hamburg authorities, the city had to accommodate 5,725 refugees in the first six months of this year - the same number as in the entire of 2014. Tents and sanitary facilities have been set up in parks in some districts to provide the necessary housing.