"Responsible" goal celebrations in the Swedish team

When the men's soccer ballroom Swede starts next week, at least to say otherwise, different premises.

Players, leaders, organizers, media representatives and others who will be attending the Swedish arena must adhere to a medical regulations, developed by Swedish football, with the aim of limiting the spread of infection.

However, what is missing is restrictions on goal-setting. It has been widely debated in the German Bundesliga in particular, where the players - to varying degrees - adhered to the stated urge not to touch teammates other than with elbows and feet.

In Swedish football, it is instead own responsibility and common sense that applies.

-Every team has to find their way of celebrating. It is not a question of hugging, kissing or anything like that, but it must also be done in a responsible way, ”says Sverker Nilsson, who is a member of the Swedish Football Association's medical committee and is a doctor in Falkenbergs FF.

He continues:

-Each team must find a model for how this should work in a good way. We must not exaggerate things, we are actually talking about healthy elite athletes.

The regulations include that each player must fill out a health form before a match - and in case of signs of symptoms there will be no play.

Sverker Nilsson feels confident that only healthy players will stay on the plans and thinks that the cautionary thinking around goal-making is mostly about symbolism.

- If you play as a football player after a match, if you are healthy, then it is nothing that is infectious - but it does not look good if you broadcast this. You get to look at how people in general react in society. It is important to set a good example in television. There is a social medical aspect to take into account, not just the health of the players, he says.

One who agrees is Djurgården's Erik Berg. He is of the opinion that the signal value that restrained goal-keeping entails should not be underestimated.

-I think that is absolutely important. Even though we start playing matches now, a pandemic is still ongoing. We are important role models so it is important to continue to keep a distance and be careful. This is far from over, says the 31-year-old.

According to the center-back, the Swedish champion club Djurgården did not raise the question of how they should behave when they scored goals during the upcoming, heavily virus-affected, all-Swedish season.

But hugs and physical contact should still not be talked about, Berg believes.

-No, you have to stay at a distance.

Neither does the gold challenger Malmö FF have a pronounced stance on the matter - and the team's star center fielder Anders Christiansen, 29, does not dare to promise that he will keep the emotions in control if his team strikes with an important goal.

-You should also remember that we are like everyone else too. When you play a match, you play with adrenaline and emotion, sometimes reason also disappears. You also have to respect that - that we are people too, but of course we should be role models as much as possible, he says.