PHOTO: Bildbyrån
The relationship between Malmö FF and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is strained.
Now comes the next coup de grace for Zlatan’s legacy in his old football club.
MFF has chosen to delete “Ibra” from the club’s home arena.
It was in Malmö FF that Zlatan Ibrahimovic got his big break as a young striker. He got the chance in MFF’s A-team and took the entire Allsvenskan by storm, then left as the most expensive sale of all time in Swedish football.
Zlatan in Malmö
But the relationship between “Ibra” and his old football club has been seriously strained in recent years. Even though he is one of Malmö’s greatest players of all time, Zlatan is now disliked among the light blue supporters.
Everything is based on the decision that Zlatan made in 2019 when he became a co-owner of Allsvenskan rival Hammarby. An action which aroused enormous anger in Malmö and which led to his own statue being vandalized and smashed.
Malmö FF acts
Now comes the next announcement in the frosty relationship when Malmö FF deletes Zlatan from the home arena Eleda stadium. The so-called “Zlatan log” has disappeared completely.
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For many years, the Allsvenskan major club has had three large boxes at the home arena, which have been named after the club’s biggest icons. Not only Zlatan, but also Boss Larsson and Marcus Rosenberg has been presented with a lodge named after him.
Deletes “Ibra”
But now only Larsson’s and Rosenberg’s lodges remain, while Zlatan’s lodge has been divided into three smaller lodges and the name has disappeared completely.
– It is divided into three small lodges and thus it no longer exists. We have done it because we have seen that the demand is so much greater for lodges for twelve people, says the club’s CEO Niclas Carlnén to Expressen.
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When asked if any of the smaller lodges could have kept Zlatan’s name, the club manager responds as follows:
– It is possible, but we do not have any names of any of the small lodges. They are only numbered.
Niclas Carlnén does not see this decision as any grudge against Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his relationship with MFF.
– I maintain what I said earlier, that Zlatan is an important part of Malmö FF’s history. This change is happening because there is a different need for how lodges are used, he tells the evening newspaper.
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