At Monday’s Allsvenskan kick-off meeting, a panel discussion was held on player transfers, issues related to transfer fees, salaries, sign-on bonuses and the transfer window was discussed. Participating in the panel was, among others, Football Channel’s Olof Lundh.
— Is there any more corrupt market than football transfers?, asked Lundh, where he meant that the transfer market in Swedish football is partly affected by corruption.
Hammarby’s sporting director Jesper Jansson was also on the panel and he agreed with Lundh.
— We must tackle corruption. It is a big threat to Swedish football. Corruption is no less in Sweden than it is abroad, said Jansson, where he also commented on the new the regulatory framework for agents coming this year.
More money
After the panel discussion, Jansson developed his reasoning for TT.
— There are more and more stakeholders, bigger and bigger money. It is, but it is nothing new now, it has been going on for many years.
TT: But it’s worse now?
— It has escalated and it is because Swedish football and young Swedish players are becoming more interesting, there is bigger and bigger money, the more interested parties come in. We must be aware of that. It is fact.
Jansson says that corruption can occur in several different forms, but he does not want to comment on threats. However, he says that you have to try to take it within the football family.
TT: What should the football family do to sort it out now that it has escalated?
— You probably have to do that together and realize that you are in a global world, you are part of it and cannot close your eyes to it. Football is a very large economy from a world perspective.
Djurgården’s sporting director Bosse Andersson on the question of whether the transfer market is a corrupt industry:
— It’s a tough industry, but we haven’t noticed anything. We have sold players continuously for ten years and it is important that you own the decisions. We in Djurgården make the decisions.
TT: So you don’t want to say that the industry is corrupt?
— It’s a tough world, but corrupt? I do not know. We have bought and sold football players and have a clear idea when we buy and when we sell players. It should be good for the player, good for the club.
Stefan Andreasson is club manager in Elfsborg.
— Football is a special industry. In Sweden, it’s probably more that there are so many agents, a lot of new ones are appearing who may not want to follow the rules, says Andreasson.
— They (the agents) have a very big role – perhaps too big a role in some cases. You can see examples of this in Europe, but there are tendencies in Sweden as well.
Andreasson continues:
— Corrupt is a strong word, it is a complicated world. It’s a tough climate.
TT: How to overcome it?
— We hope and believe in the new regulatory framework, it feels quite hopeful now with a clear regulatory framework. There are good and bad in all industries, but I think everyone is looking forward to a set of regulations that can be followed in Europe – but also in Sweden in a simpler way.