After the tumultuous SM gold match in November between Malmö FF and Elfsborg, the Malmö police invested resources in issuing access bans against high-risk supporters.
– I have a special group of police officers to implement this, to achieve a slightly greater effort, says prosecutor Henrik Nordquist.
Recently, 40 MFF supporters were informed that they are banned from all elite sports for 12-18 months. It should be compared with two or three access bans that were issued to Malmö supporters last season, according to the prosecutor.
“Black on white”
– Traditionally, access bans have mainly been issued due to suspicion of crime, but the legislation also gives us the opportunity to issue bans for pure disorderly conduct. There has been uncertainty as to whether it has been enough in the past, says Henrik Nordquist.
This week, 27 Elfsborg supporters were also banned from entering – in a couple of cases for up to two years and nine months. The bans are connected partly to the gold match in Malmö and partly to a violent riot before Elfsborg’s cup meeting with Gais this year, writes Borås Newspaper.
It is prosecutors who issue access bans, but the decision can be appealed to the district court.
– In court, we have been told in black and white that disorderly conduct is considered to meet the criteria for issuing an access ban. So we don’t need to have pure criminal suspicions against the individual, says Henrik Nordquist.
None of the 40 MFF supporters are themselves suspected of having committed any crime, but the men are linked to two more serious disturbances. Partly a fight with Djurgård supporters at Fridhemsplan in Stockholm on 16 September last year and partly an incident the night before the gold match on 12 November in Malmö.
– Then a group of supporters was on their way to Elfsborg’s supporter hotel. They were masked and disturbed traffic and order. The police took them into custody, says Nordquist.
A witch hunt?
Among supporters, the issued access bans have aroused great emotions.
– People say it’s a witch hunt, but it’s not a human right to go and watch football. We have started from the fact that we want to try to reduce, as we judge it, the spiral of violence that has taken place. Above all, we have focused on the organized fights.
An entry ban is about a future risk of a person committing a crime that could disrupt order or endanger safety during an event.
– It is a risk assessment, absolutely. There are certainly supporters who think this is an abuse of power and a way to put them in their place, but this is not something we do arbitrarily and without basis. If you think you have been treated unfairly, then you have every right to have this tried by a court, says Henrik Nordquist.