20-year-old Björkestam told Aftonbladet that colleagues commented on her breasts and buttocks, made sex jokes and sent inappropriate text messages. She told, among other things, about an incident at a referee course last summer.
Already on Friday, after the skating test, some referees drank beer in a hotel room. It was so crowded that I sat on the desk and under it was the beer bag. Every time they went down to get a box, someone said "oh how easy it is to get between your legs", said Björkestam.
In a press release, the association writes that "a legally secure handling of the case" has been carried out. They write that the behavior "contradicts the Swedish Bandy Association's values and the requirements of propriety imposed on referees and officials".
"At the same moment"
A referee has been suspended until further notice.
It's a decision made without any final date, so to speak, says Daniel Andersson to TT.
Andersson himself found out about the case at the end of September and means that he then immediately contacted Hanna Björkestam.
At the same moment that I had done that, I also drew up an incident report about this, he says.
There, we gather all the information and during the time, we have also had ongoing contact with legal expertise regarding this. And then we have gathered the board to make a decision, but we have also contacted our safety committee so that this is done correctly.
"A brave person"
TT: Does Swedish bandy have a problem with jargon?
Let's be honest: it's obviously a problem in bandy, but also in other sports and society at large, he says.
Andersson also praises Hanna Björkestam's courage to dare tell.
I perceive that it is a brave person, who in a completely correct way goes out and tells her story, what she has been through. And that we at the association need to work extremely hard to prevent such things from occurring in our sport.
