PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has received a lot of criticism for his performance.
When he praised Qatar at a press conference with the national team.
Now columnist Johan Croneman enters the debate with strong criticism of “Ibra”.
Again is Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Swedish national team and once again he arouses strong reactions with his statements. In the last week, he has had to receive a lot of criticism after his much talked about press conference before the European Championship qualifiers.
Zlatan’s performance
Where “Ibra” hailed Qatar as a country after hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The controversial words have been widely debated since then and there is a lot to be said for the 41-year-old’s views.
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Now the next strong voice enters the debate. It is Dagens Nyheter’s long-standing television columnist Johan Croneman who now directs clear anger at Zlatan’s behavior and that no one else questions this anymore.
“I don’t judge the sports journalists for the rather tame reaction to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Qatar review (everything is 10 points in the Qatari paradise according to the long one), but a federation captain, a federation president or a politician would probably have been shredded slowly and had to leave all their assignments for a similar statement”, writes Croneman in his column on DN.
“At the same time: Swedish politicians are healthy hypocrites, trade with dictatorships like Qatar, open embassies and increase cultural exchanges. But then deal with the chest tones when it comes to sports”.
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Swedish anger
Croneman then makes comparisons with Zlatan’s Qatar tribute and the terrible thing that happened in Germany in the 30s.
“For Zlatan and Swedish football, it is now European Championship qualification again, everything is exactly as usual, Zlatan is Zlatan. He thinks Qatar’s political model is great. “It’s a system that works.” Well, there was a hell of an order on the streets during the Berlin Olympics in 1936, too. And in Argentina in 1978. Zlatan is very close to the controversial Qatari PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the most influential person in world football, but also suspected of involvement in several corruption scandals,” writes the columnist.
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He thinks that someone should have put their foot down after Zlatan went way too far at the press conference. And therefore directs clear criticism towards the national team and the Swedish Football Association.
“It was an extremely gross violation, even by Zlatan’s standards. The conflict-fearing Swedish Football Association did not dare to say anything, perhaps Fredrik Reinfeldt, current chairman of SvFF, should have been asked how he would have handled Zlatan’s statement? I know exactly how tired I sound to many people. But is there no further limit to what we really accept? Consequences?” Croneman wonders in his column for the daily newspaper.
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