The local fight between Djurgården and AIK in Stockholm was interrupted for an hour due to the brawl of AIK supporters.
CEO of AIK, the Swedish football league team Manuel Lindberg has left his position.
The final nail in Lindberg’s departure was the local fight between AIK and Djurgården in Stockholm, which derailed into chaos in the final moments.
The match went on for a long time in a 0–0 situation until Djurgården Marcus Danielson gave the hosts the lead in the 82nd minute.
At the end of the actual playing time, AIK Axel Björnstrom received a red card, after which emotions heated up, and several players clashed on the pitch. Soon after, another AIK player, Erick Otienosaw red.
This was too much for AIK fans who started throwing flares and fireworks onto the pitch near the Djurgården goalkeeper. Explosives also flew into the stands. The match was suspended, and masked AIK supporters rushed onto the pitch and attacked the riot police who had marched to the spot.
The match was finally suspended for an hour, after which the missing minutes were played. Djurgården won 1–0 and is fourth in the league. The team had never before beaten AIK at home at Tele2 Arena.
Stockholm’s local struggles are intense encounters, but on Sunday the situation got out of hand. Sports Director of Djurgården Boss Andersson was furious after the game.
– They completely embarrassed themselves. This is the biggest scandal I have seen in Swedish football. They are damn bad losers. I think all sane supporters of AIK are ashamed of what happened in the stadium, Andersson would say.
AIK’s CEO Manuel Lindberg was disappointed with the supporters’ brawl.
– This is sad. In my opinion, such behavior is not worthy of AIK.
AIK, one of Sweden’s big clubs, is in crisis. It has won only one of the ten matches it has played this season and is second to last. Supporters have demanded a head coach Andreas Brännström and CEO Lindberg’s resignation.
– In a way, I understand angry people who can’t stand this anymore. We have to improve, AIK player Sotirios Papagiannopoulos said.
The Swedish media reported on Lindberg’s resignation on Monday.
– I take responsibility for the situation and have therefore decided to step aside, commented Lindberg.
The Swedish police have started an investigation into the events of the match.
About Finnish players Rasmus Schuller played in Djurgården’s midfield the entire match. Robin Tihi on the other hand, toiled in the AIK defense for 90 minutes.
Sources: Expressen, SVT, Dagens Nyheter.