Elite football's extensive regulations for being able to play series football without an audience from mid-June got last week a Nobel by the Public Health Authority.

It aroused strong reactions from football's representatives.

TT: Germany's two highest divisions started this weekend and several other top leagues have been given the green light. Why can't you play elite football in Sweden?

- First of all, I want to say that sports and football mean a lot to very many people in Sweden, both for the popular movement and for sports enthusiasts, but also because it is a business that makes a lot of money. I understand that sports and football need clear messages, and information as soon as possible for when and how a restart should be possible. It is also important and good that there is now a dialogue between both the National Sports Federation and the Public Health Authority and also with various football players for how this can be done in a contagious manner, says Amanda Lind, who has sports in her ministerial portfolio.

TT: What do you think is required for, for example, the Allsvenskan and Damallsvenskan to be able to start again?

- This is something that the Public Health Agency needs to judge based on the prevailing infection protection situation. I know that both the football players and the Swedish Sports Federation have put forward various types of proposals for adaptations, how to play without an audience and carry out the matches in a contagious manner, and it is good and important that the dialogue is now conducted with the Public Health Authority.

Anders Tegnell says that it is not the players and matches that are the problem, but what happens around the game, like people gathering at sports bars.

TT: Should football really be "penalized" for the taverns not being able to follow the rules?

- The public health authority must assess the state of infection and how the matches can be conducted in a safe way.

TT: But why the reference to what's going on at bars? What should the Football Association be able to do about it?

- I now think it is important with the dialogue between the Public Health Authority and the sports movement and the football players to see how to carry out the matches as safely as possible, and also if there are things that the sport can do to the consequences of this.

TT: Football's representatives say they now want to have a direct dialogue with the government, preferably Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Have you opened for such a call?

- I have ongoing contact with the sports movement and I like to meet different players, but there are no simple solutions, and it is important to have a dialogue between the Public Health Authority and the sports movement, so that you can look at possible adaptations to the infection situation and so that you can get clear information.

TT: Several elite clubs are out of financial shape and the Football Association's secretary general, Håkan Sjöstrand, does not rule out bankruptcy unless the matches start soon. How worried are you about that?

- Yes, the government was early in the news about this half a billion for sports, because it is important that we have a sports movement even after this crisis. And we also know that big matches and events also finance the broad and children's and youth sports, and on the contrary, the breadth is also important for the elite business. It is true that elite sports and elite football turn over a lot of money in Sweden, not least linked to the TV rights, so it is clear that this would have major consequences. But with that said, the contagion and the fight against corona are the foremost priority in this situation. But if you can start elite sports under infectious forms, it would obviously be positive, not least for the sport itself.

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