Three out of four Allsvenskan referees subjected to threats/harassment in the past year

2023-05-07T06:15:40.482Z

Highlights: Three out of four Allsvenskan referees were subjected to threats or harassment from the audience or supporters last year. A fifth said that their families had been exposed. "This is extremely serious," says Martin Fredman, head of security at the Swedish Football Association. "It's common (my average is at least every four games) for adults to scream that you're going to die," writes one referee in a survey by SVT Sport. "The person behind the referee devil" is a new documentary by Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Last year, three out of four Allsvenskan referees were subjected to threats or harassment from the audience or supporters. This is shown in a survey conducted by SVT Sport. In addition, a fifth said that their families had been exposed. "This is extremely serious," says Martin Fredman, head of security at the Swedish Football Association.

Watch the documentary "The Person Behind "The Judge Devil"" here

Before the season, SVT Sport conducted a survey with the Allsvenskan referees – both the head referees and the assistant referees.

76 percent of the judges who responded stated that they were subjected to some form of threat or harassment by supporters and/or the audience last year.

And the testimonials are dark.

"Sometimes it's so bad that the threats in the arena are directly aimed at my family and my children. Bringing your family to the matches is in many cases completely unthinkable," writes one referee.

"It's common (my average is at least every four games and then you don't have time to hear everything) for adults to scream that you're going to die," writes another.

"They're going to kill my children"

The assistant referee Mehmet Culum, who refereed Euro 2021, tells SVT Sport in the documentary "The person behind the referee devil"" that it is common with derogatory comments.

"I'm surprised that you are allowed to behave in any way you want when you come to an arena or sports ground. How to be allowed to call judges x number of gender words. That it's okay to talk shit about a striker who has missed an open goal. That it's okay to talk shit about a referee who missed a wrong penalty, he says, and elaborates further:

– That you can do it this openly and that it is acceptable. But you can't do that in your everyday life, it would never happen in a normal workplace. But it is accepted in sporting contexts. That it is so, I do not get it into my head.

"Is extremely serious"

The Swedish Football Association's head of security, Martin Fredman, takes the situation for the referees seriously, and says that several times each season there are incidents that lead to a police report.

"I would say that every year we have 10-15 police reports, and then it's not just illegal threats. There are different types of reports, including molestation and hate speech, he says, and explains that it has now become more common for judges to receive confidentiality markings from the Swedish Tax Agency:

"In the past, you needed to have a large number of police reports to prove that you would get it. Now we have made the Swedish Tax Agency understand that this makes the judges feel safer. So thanks to the work we've done with our lawyers and others involved, it's easier for us to get privacy markings.

"It means a more protected environment but also a more difficult way for them to live their normal lives, because it's not so easy to live with privacy markings.

Three out of four Allsvenskan referees subjected to threats/harassment in the past year

"They're going to kill my children"

"Is extremely serious"

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