The beginning of the match was calm and there was a good atmosphere both in the stands and among the players, says Västerås club manager Patrik Lundstedt. But at the beginning of the second half there were a number of incidents with pyrotechnic pieces that were fired at the Västerås grandstand.
A break was held and the audience was given a second chance, but the events repeated themselves.
- We chose to cancel the match. We have to be able to guarantee the safety of our spectators, which we couldn't and that's why we canceled.
The heel sections were placed next to each other because the Hitachi Energy Arena in Västerås is being rebuilt. But Lundstedt believes that it should be possible to hold matches in this way without incidents, because it has been done before.
- We have had a high-risk match before that was coordinated in the same way, this should not have to happen, he says.
"Taken very seriously"
Now there are several meetings this week and the club will review the whole to be able to guarantee the safety of the visitors at the next match.
- It was a bad start to the season, spectators left here with a bad feeling and we are losing spectators going forward. I am proud that we dared to make such a decision to cancel the match, but it is not something we had expected. It is taken very seriously and we have good cooperation with the police and security guards, something good will come out of this, says Patrik Lundstedt.
Hear club manager Patrik Lundstedt tell more about the events during the match and about the injured boy in the clip above.