The Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) is launching a package of measures to combat organized crime in sports, according to multiple reports. The government has granted RF ten million SEK per year since last year to support these efforts. RF commissioned the Tryggare Sverige foundation to map the extent of criminal infiltration in sports, the reports said.
Magnus Lindgren, Secretary General of Tryggare Sverige, said that organized crime is not uncommon in both elite and grassroots sports, and it is not limited to football or vulnerable areas. The mapping found that 13 percent of special sports federations reported awareness of some form of organized crime in the past year. Among over 1,800 sports clubs surveyed, 7 percent reported awareness of organized crime. Additionally, 10 percent (seven) of the 70 special sports federations that responded reported at least one instance of criminal infiltration in the past year.
We have had participants in RM/SM with clear connections to the ongoing wave of violence gangs, who have uttered veiled threats in discussions with other participants regarding non-competition-related issues.
The mapping also identified specific forms of crime. Ten percent of federations reported exposure to organized sports corruption, such as match-fixing or illegal player transfers. Seven percent of federations reported recruitment of children and young people into criminal gangs in connection with sports activities. Magnus Lindgren noted that many federations and clubs lack routines for preventing and reporting crime. According to Dagens Nyheter, an anonymous federation representative described having participants in national championships with clear connections to ongoing violence gangs who uttered veiled threats. Another anonymous football club told Dagens Nyheter that older teenagers hang around sports grounds trying to recruit younger children, and that older former players contacted younger players offering money to store drugs at home.
Police work against organized crime in sports faces significant structural and knowledge-related challenges, according to Magnus Lindgren. A recent incident in Huddinge involving an alleged recruitment attempt of 8-year-old children at a football field received significant attention. Lena Sahlin, Security Chief at RF, said at a press conference that many of these problems are new to the organization and they had not known the extent. Anna Iwarsson, Chairperson of RF, stated that the sports movement is part of society and the development seen also affects sports, and that the action package is an important part of continued work. Magnus Lindgren added that the impact of organized crime on sports has flown under the radar, and that Sweden has been described as a dreamland for match-fixing due to naivety from police and sports. According to SVT Sport, crime reporter Diamant Salihu expressed surprise that corruption exists in sports like cricket, which he had not known about.
It is usually older teenagers who hang around the sports ground and try to recruit younger children. We counteract this, but the area (where the club operates) itself is a big problem.
Older former youth players contacted younger players on the street asking if they wanted to earn 1,000 SEK by storing drugs at home.
It surprises me that corruption exists in sports that I didn't know it was going on in, like cricket.