At the end of March, Åsarna IK arranged the junior-SM but the competitions were stopped after only one day due to the corona pandemic.

The decision was made after the government decided that no events with 500 people or more should be held.

Åsarnas chairman Thomas Wassberg, the ski legend who won several Olympic and World Cup golds, thinks it was wrong to cancel the championship.

- It may not have been the government's fault at the time, but the ski association could have announced that we never gather 500 people at the junior-SM.

We would not have done that either if we had been allowed to continue driving, he tells SVT Sport.

Lost about half a million

Wassberg understands that the sport was given restrictions during the pandemic to reduce the spread of infection.

On the other hand, he believes that the government should have made exceptions for sports that take place outdoors.

- Skiing takes place outdoors, there is no risk of infection then.

Maybe when you gather, but it can be solved in some way.

Åsarna applied for, and received, financial support for the junior-SM which was canceled and and the club gets a new chance to arrange the championship in 2022. But not everything can be replaced - the club's big exercise race that had to be canceled this Easter is one such example.

- There we lost about half a million last year.

It will probably be the same this year, says Wassberg.

- It becomes important for the club's development, how many active people we can support and so on.

The ski association agrees with Wassberg

Wassberg receives support from the Swedish Ski Association when it comes to the government's handling of participant and audience requests.

In the survey that SVT Sport conducted together with Agenda, the ski association's chairman Karin Mattson writes, among other things, as follows:

"The most important thing for us is that decisions regarding participation and audience restrictions as well as entry bans quickly become less blunt and instead allow us to use our skills and experience to carry out safe, responsible and safe events and activities."

The Minister understands the criticism

In the survey, several representatives of outdoor sports state that they are critical of the handling of the participant and audience restriction.

And Amanda Lind, Minister of Culture and Democracy with responsibility for sports issues (MP), understands the criticism that the legislation is too blunt.

- That's right.

The Public Order Act is a law that handles gatherings and public events, not all types of activities in the whole society.

It has been one of the laws we have had to use and which has been important for the Public Health Agency in the fight against the pandemic, she says, and continues:

- But we have seen that we need completely new legislation.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has now begun work on developing a temporary pandemic law, which will be able to regulate more activities and also be more flexible.

But it is a good way forward, and many clubs are already bleeding.

For those who are already risking their future, what do you want to say to them?

- That is why we have also worked to see what we can do within the framework of the Public Order Act.

That is why we developed this exemption for seated audiences, and we have also commissioned the Public Health Agency to look at whether there are more exceptions that can be made if the infection situation allows.

- But also to look at, for example, the question of outdoor sports, if it would be possible to make special exceptions right there, linked to the law of order.

But it is a blunt law that is linked to criminal law, so it is not quite simple.