The police have stepped in at football matches in Gothenburg several times this year.
This has created criticism from both clubs and supporters - and the Italian-Finnish author Anton Monti believes that Sweden risks repeating Italy's mistakes regarding the relationship between police and ultras groups.
Monti believes the police are no longer present in the stands in Italy. Instead, stewards paid by the club handle security.
The idea behind this is that the police presence inside the stadium was considered provocative and caused problems, as the crowd immediately sought confrontation with them, says Monti.
At the same time, he understands the police's work - but believes they must prioritize:
They must also prioritize de-escalation. If you just escalate situations, the ultras will definitely stop fighting each other - and instead unite against the police, says Monti.
“Normalize police presence”
Mats Bergström is the police chief in Police Region West.
We don't go in and stand in the stands en masse. We try to normalize our presence in the arena. We gain relationships and we support the organizer's work - and help them when they have challenges. In the same way, we try, through good work, to cool down situations and not create aggression, says Bergström.
“Best in all of Europe”
Allsvenskan may not represent the best football in Europe - but if there's one thing that impresses Anton Monti, it's the crowd culture.
Sweden has the best tifo and choreography in Europe. It's fascinating - and I assume that a lot of people go to the matches for that, not just for the game.
He knows that flares are dangerous - but it's part of the choreography.
If you ask someone about their best football memory, you will often get the answer: "I don't remember anything about the game, but I will never forget the magical atmosphere in the stadium."
The presence of the ultras inside the stadium is part of the spectacle itself. If you prohibit too much, you create a confrontational atmosphere. I think it is possible to find ways to handle this organizationally.
Anton Monti is an Italian-Finnish non-fiction author. About 15 years ago he started writing books about political extremism. Then he started writing about organized crime - and especially about the mafia in Italy.
He is currently working on the book "Ultras". In the book, he explains how the mafia in Italy has systematically taken over ultras groups' power to control everything from ticket sales to drug trafficking.
