The British league chose to close down the season due to the British government not being able to guarantee an audience at the matches before October. But Sweden still conducts a league despite all restrictions due to the corona pandemic.
- I have been very driven in this. If you look at a little longer term, it would not have been good with a lost year. On the one hand, I feel a responsibility to the audience and the fans that they should be able to see their teams when we have a TV agreement, but also a responsibility to the drivers and all partners who are very involved in this, says Mikael Teurnberg, marketing manager in the league organization ESS (Elitspeedway Sweden) and former gold team leader in Rospiggarna.
- I am very happy that we have had a season. We only see what it looks like in England, where many drivers and club owners raise Sweden as a good example and say that "they can start in Sweden, but here we can not drive". I have a lot of contacts in England, and I do not think it will be good for the sport over there that they cancel the whole season, he continues.
No audience at the matches
It will be a league in compressed form, and at first without an audience at the matches. Something that made the Swedish champions Smederna withdraw from the league a month ago.
- It feels exciting that we get started, even if it will be a special situation with fewer matches and no audience. For me, it is important that there are even matches and even heats. I also think it will be a good opportunity for the clubs to recover a little financially when the big stars are not involved, but also a chance for many younger Swedish drivers to break through more when they get bigger roles in their teams, says Mikael Teurnberg.
Rule changes before the start of the series:
* Each team drives with six drivers instead of seven.
* The league is run in seven single meetings plus a derby round, and then the playoffs.
* All teams go to the playoffs (in the playoffs, one in the basic series meets the eighth, the second meets the seventh, etc.).
* The floor section will be removed and the individual driver sections will be frozen during 2020.
* Each club has seven transfer cards to change drivers until round six.
* Temporary guest drivers are allowed, as long as the driver is not registered in another club.