Sports important in vulnerable areas

Basketball can be a way for young people not to end up in crime. This is the opinion of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the government, which has now decided on SEK 100 million for a sports investment in vulnerable areas.

– This is great fun to see on site, zealots who love their sport but who at the same time know that endurance, long-termism is required and that you have to be systematic if you want to succeed, says Ulf Kristersson (M) to TT.

The thuds when the many balls bounce on the floor echo in the gymnasium. It is Thursday afternoon and a large number of girls have gathered to practice basketball in Hovsjö hub in Södertälje.

The training is part of a local investment in Hovsjö, where boys and girls get the opportunity to participate in sports activities free of charge. The business is a typical example of the kind of initiative that the government wants to support with the help of an annual investment of SEK 100 million, which was decided on on Thursday.

Plays important role

The prime minister, who himself just made an attempt to score a ball in one of the baskets, points out that sports play an important role in breaking and preventing exclusion in areas classified as vulnerable. As an example, he cites figures that show that children with Swedish parents are to a significantly higher extent involved in some association compared to others.

– Among many children who have Swedish parents, up to 80 percent are involved in some association during these important years. In other areas, it is below 20 percent. Then you do other things with that time, get other role models and move too little. It’s about both mental and physical health, but also getting into organized association life, says Kristersson.

The money will be distributed through the National Sports Confederation, which has the task of finding associations in vulnerable areas that can become part of the investment.

Burning question

Breaking alienation and working preventively so that young people do not end up in crime is one of the most pressing political issues in Sweden.

Another such question is how the escalating wave of violence is to be broken.

Just a few commuter stations from Södertälje is Tullinge, where a man in his 50s was shot dead in his home at the beginning of March. According to media reports, he must have been related to a young man with connections to gang crime. Since then, several serious acts of violence with seemingly similar motives have occurred.

– But if it is as it is implied or as many believe, pure attacks on relatives and relatives, then it is just another level in this crime which is even worse. I think this only underlines how important it is that we have to break this trend and then it is required that we do things that we have not done before.

“No other option”

The Prime Minister believes that the development shows the importance of continuing to implement changes to the law, even the more controversial proposals such as anonymous witnesses and visitation zones.

TT: What is your message to the relatives who now feel fear even though they themselves have nothing to do with the crime?

– That our task is to ensure that those who commit crimes are locked up and that we will do everything in our power to change the laws so that we get there. There is no other option.