“Let’s play the first round and see after that”

The Swedish Damallsvenskan, the most popular series among helmet players, starts this weekend. Ria Öling’s Rosengård and Piteå got off to a flying start to the season on Friday and ended up with a 1-1 draw, sharing the points, while the other matches of the round will be played on Sunday and Monday.

At the beginning of the new season in Sweden, the situation of the series has spoken: the players still do not have a valid collective agreement.

Representing Sweden’s two highest women’s clubs in the two highest league levels Elitfotboll Dam announced at the end of November, (you will switch to another service)that the contract that has been valid since 2013 must be renegotiated. The representatives of the clubs wanted to negotiate an agreement with Sweden’s largest trade union, Unionen, because according to it, the players’ association “is not a real professional organization”. (you switch to another service)

– We, the players, are of the opinion that the players’ association is our representative, and we do not agree to the worse conditions that the clubs have offered, representing Vittsjö Linda Sällström opens to Urheilu.

The terms of the new contract proposed by the clubs are worse for the players than in the contract negotiated ten years ago. In the new contract, injury situations caused concern. Secretary General of the Players Association According to Magnus Erlingmark, injured players would have a new contract (you move to another service) the risk of not being paid if there is a previous injury, as each case would be considered individually.

Parties in open disputes

According to the current “90 percent rule”, players receive 90 percent of their original salary in the event of an injury, of which 80 percent is paid by the state and 10 percent by the club. The club would like their share to be covered by insurance, in which case it would be possible for the Insurance Fund (Forsäkringskas), which manages Sweden’s statutory social insurance benefits, to refuse compensation by decision.

– We really don’t want to go backwards in a worse direction. We do not agree to these current conditions, Sällström says.

Even the threat of a strike hovered under the opening round of Damallsvenskan for a long time, but on Friday Rosengård and Piteå opened the round as scheduled. However, both teams started the match with an expression of opinion (you go to another service) and gathered in a common ring.

According to Sällström, the other matches of the opening round will also be played as agreed.

– Now let’s play at least the first round and see what the situation is after that.

The players’ association said below the opening of the Damallsvenskan (you will switch to another service), that it is ready to take the matter to court. A strike is also possible in later rounds.

According to Arbetsgivaralliansen, the employers’ organization representing the clubs, the decisions of the Insurance Fund are not the responsibility of the clubs. Arbetsgivaralliansen Jonathan Kibebe accused the Players’ Association of concealing information and lying.

– They campaigned really strongly that we would degrade something. But we haven’t said that, we’re trying to rearrange the benefits. If the other says “we refuse to give up anything” it is difficult to negotiate. In our opinion, the players’ association does not tell the whole picture, but only gives the impression that everything would be worse, which is not true. We know they are not giving a true picture to their members, Kibebe uploaded to Aftonbladet. (you switch to another service)

Financial challenges at clubs

One of the reasons for the clubs’ willingness to sign a new collective agreement is certainly the challenging economic situation. SVT reported in the fall that many Damallsvenskan clubs have had financial problems. Vittsjö’s sports director Erika Nilsson told SVT that due to the increase in energy and gasoline prices, the club had already exceeded the budget it had set for them at the end of July and was balancing with the expenses. According to Nilsson, the club always makes its away game trips as cheap as possible, but in such a way that the players’ performances do not suffer.

Sällström, who played in Vittsjø in the seasons 2015–2018 and returned to southern Sweden last season, describes the situation as quite good.

– Of course, there is not too much money, but the club has always handled things smartly, and we didn’t go out of our way, Sällström says and brings up Eskilstuna, which was left without a league license, and Tyresö from the past years.

Tinja-Riikka Korpela too the club aimed for the Champions League final and signed the world’s best players with dire consequences – just one month after the Champions League final, the club was bankrupt. Korpela and partners received their salary through salary security.

There is no such thing in Vittsjö, we use money responsibly. I’m not too worried.

The best of Damallsvenskan come from Finland

For years, the Swedish main league has been one of the most popular leagues for women’s national team players. This season too, Damallsvenskan will see numerous players familiar from Helmari, many of whom are also among the best in the series.

Linköping’s captain was awarded as the best player of last season Olga Ahtinen.

According to statistics company Playmaker Al, no less than two of the three best players in the series are Finnish. The statistics company named the Canadian Olympic gold medalist representing Kristianstad as the best attacker Evelyne Viensin, who scored the second most goals in the series. The statistical company named Hammarby’s Finnish defender Eva Nyström as the best defender.

As the best midfielder, the statistical company named the award-winning Ahtinen as the best player of the series.

– Linköping grabbed the last place qualifying for the Champions League and Olga Ahtinen is a big part of the success. Olga is truly a unique player. He is not only the best midfielder but truly the best player in the league, Fotbollskanalen’s reasoning said. (you switch to another service)

In Sweden, Damallsvenskan is now considered a youth league. The best Swedish players aim for the bigger leagues in Europe.

Sällström has played in Sweden since 2008, with the exception of a three-year stint in Paris and a half-year stint at HJK. In Sweden, he first played for Djurgården before moving to Linköping and Vittsjö. He returned to Vittsjö for the 2022 season.

According to Sällström, Damallsvenskan has lagged a bit behind other European leagues.

– When I moved to Sweden, Damallsvenskan was the best or second best league in the world, with the world’s top players. But when Europe started investing more, Sweden might not have been able to respond in that competition. Salaries started to rise in Europe, but this is still a good, competitive series. If you want to go abroad from Finland, this is a really good first step. It is easy to adapt here, things work and from here you can then get to Europe.

Opening round of the Swedish Damallsvenskan 24-27.3. Rosengård-Piteå, Brommapojkarna-Uppsala, Häcken-Djurgården, Kristianstad-Kalmar, Örebro-Linköping, Hammarby-Vittsjö, IFK Norrköping-Växjö Helmarit will play a double match against Slovakia on April 7 and 10. The matches starting at 14:00 will be seen in Areena.