Due to the corona pandemic, the sporting activities in Sweden have gone from being conducted with a limited audience to being canceled, largely, entirely.
The Public Health Authority came up with new directives on sports during the day. Postpone all sports that include close contact, while at the same time wanting training to be done.
- We want people to move outdoors, but there are special problems with sports that have close contact. This should be avoided as far as possible. We want people to postpone matches, says Johan Carlsson, Director General of the Public Health Authority.
- We are behind these measures. We think it is important to follow these directives, not least the competitions that apply. You can't continue playing matches, but you can practice.
Many all Swedish clubs are preparing for the postponed season and around the country, until today, training matches have been played in various divisions. These will no longer be possible.
Björn Eriksson says that the Swedish Sports Federation hands over the responsibility to the unions and the associations to follow the recommendations themselves.
- We have not even discussed any coercive means at all. This is the position of Swedish sport and those who do something else do something that does not match what the sport believes. I think those who organize competitions will be met by a harsh judgment from the outside world.
The new directives state that the decision is valid until 31 December, which according to Eriksson is only a legal technical formulation.
- It should be emphasized that this applies until further notice until the pandemic development is under control.
Whether this will affect the start of Allsvenskan, which is currently scheduled for sometime in early June, is unclear.
- You can't play training games right now, but you can practice training. We know nothing about Allsvenskan yet.