This week is Pride week in the Swedish hockey league.
This means, among other things, that the teams play in match shirts with elements of the colors of the rainbow, the referees as well, and the league collects LGBTQI-oriented content on its website.
- This week is a manifestation to show what we stand for and where we take a stand, and above all we open up for discussions, says SHL CEO Jenny Silfverstrand to SVT.
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But not everyone is positive.
The league and the teams involved have received criticism from supporters, especially on social media.
Some teams have even been forced to close comment sections around posts about Pride Week.
- That it happens like this is perhaps a matter of people not recognizing themselves in what we communicate.
It might create some fear or questioning, says Silfverstrand.
What does SHL do to counteract this kind of reaction?
- Among other things, we have launched an initiative with the Swedish ice hockey association that deals with how we train our juniors in our hockey gymnasiums.
There we have lessons that, among other things, deal with this type of question.
There we go further down the ages in our educations to start talking about this already then.
The expert: "a lot of potential for improvement"
Jonas Andersson is a hockey expert on SVT.
He finds it regrettable that the initiative from the SHL is met with so many negative reactions (hear him in the video above).
At the same time, he believes that Swedish ice hockey has taken steps in the right direction, even if there is still a long way to go.
- There is a lot of potential for improvement and a lot of work left to be done in ice hockey before it becomes fully inclusive and therefore initiatives like this are needed.
Hear Jenny Silfverstrand and Jonas Andersson about the negative voices around Pride Week in the video clip.