Since 2017, there has been a masking ban on Allsvenskan football stadiums. Despite this, many supporters have hidden their faces - above all in connection with equally prohibited ignition of various types of pyrotechnics.
Police and clubs have more or less turned a blind eye to the masking ban and instead focused on pyrotechnics.
Until now.
"Be creative"
From this weekend's round, the police have introduced a new directive in the clubs' organizer permits, which briefly states that matches should be interrupted in connection with organized masking and resumed when the masking has ceased.
In the permit, it will be stated that one is obliged to act against masking. In what way we leave entirely to the organizer (the clubs) to be creative with, says Per Engström, group manager at Noa, to TT.
The directive has been received with both surprise and anger from several parts of Football Sweden.
Malmö FF expresses itself critically on its website, and in a joint statement from AIK, Hammarby, and Djurgården, the three major clubs say they are worried - perhaps above all because innocent supporters will be punished when matches are interrupted.
"We can anxiously note that the requirement is a return to punishing the football audience collectively rather than prosecuting those who actually commit the disorder," the clubs write and ask the police to reconsider.
"AIK, Djurgården, and Hammarby therefore appeal to the Police Authority not to introduce this requirement in future permits. Together, we can instead continue our work to minimize disorders on our stands and, through good cooperation, work for even safer arrangements."
Lack of dialogue?
Tryggve Pederby is the chairman of the Swedish Football Supporters Union (SFSU), a nationwide organization for football supporters. He shares the Stockholm clubs' view.
The dialogue between football and the police seems not to be working. It's going to be a messy round. The police don't seem to have listened in, and it's regrettable. We feel that they haven't done any consequence analysis; they just want to make a point. Punishing the collective is no long-term solution, he says.
Per Engström, on the other hand, believes that the clubs' and SFSU's opinion that the supporter collective is being punished is incorrect.
It doesn't have to be as dramatic as many paint it. The measure is just to unmask, then you can play on, he says.
According to the Public Order Act, it is not allowed to mask oneself on football stands, but despite this, supporters do so - often in connection with the ignition of pyrotechnics.
From this weekend's Allsvenskan round, the police have introduced a new requirement in the organizer permit that the clubs have. The requirement means that matches should be interrupted if people in the stands mask themselves and resumed when the masking has ceased. It is the clubs' responsibility to ensure that the masking ban is followed.
According to police officer Per Engström, the National Operational Department, the new directive aims to ensure order and safety. It should also make it possible to continue the so-called exclusion work, which means that individuals should be punished for criminal acts and not the supporter collective.
