The Finnish national football team’s all-time goalscorer Linda Sällström, 35, was the target of nasty shouts on Saturday in the Swedish Cup match in Gothenburg. Sällström’s Vittsjö won the match with a score of 5–0.
– There was a group of about ten people who shouted really inferior misogynistic insults at us during the game. I cannot understand and accept such behavior. After the game, I went to them to show that this kind of game doesn’t drag on, Linda Sällström tells .
During the game, according to Sällström’s words, the group of shouters had shouted such insults at the players of the visiting team Vittsjö that “are not suitable to be written in the media”.
– They were shouting things that degrade women, Sällström sums up.
– Individual players were attacked. The judge also had a part in it.
Sällström commented on what happened right after the match on his Instagram account. The case has made big headlines in the Swedish media as well.
– I am sad and disappointed that it was allowed to continue throughout the match, Sällström wrote, among other things.
After the publication, Sällström has received comments on social media regarding the fact that similar shouts can also be heard in men’s games. It is written for him that the player should endure such shouts and not care.
– However, I disagree with this, says Sällström.
– They say that if a group of ten men were to shout such things at girls in the city, would that be OK? I bet the majority would think that it’s really not ok. Then why is this kind of shouting ok on the football field?
With a supporter’s ticket in the face
After Sällström went to talk to the booers after the match, they had not taken the Helmarit star’s comments to their hearing ears.
– There was no communication with them. It was just shouting in both directions.
Ruotsalaismedia Sportbladet’s social media X account has a link to the story, which shows Sällström running to the cheerleaders immediately after the final whistle. The supporters had continued their insults at that time as well.
Sällström tells that the supporters in question had also waved their big supporters’ flag in front of Sällström as if he had been hit by the flags in question.
– They had a big supporter’s ticket, which they then shoved in my face. I grabbed that flag and then there was a little tug of war for a while. They were really aggressive the moment I approached them.
However, Sällström was not injured by the big supporter’s ticket.
The Finn’s teammate Hanna Ekengren was also insulted by those Göteborg supporters in the match. Like his Finnish teammate, Ekengren took a stand on the matter on his Instagram account.
– Yesterday (March 8) was international women’s day, today we had to listen to misogyny and verbal harassment for 90+ minutes on the football field, Sällström’s teammate wrote.
Club manager of home team IFK Göteborg Håkan Mild followed the match on the spot.
– I didn’t hear the shouting myself, it can definitely be something I missed. As I walked out of the players’ corridor, however, I noticed something happening behind me. We absolutely need to investigate the matter, talk to law enforcement and find out what exactly happened, says Mild According to Sportbladet.
There have been enough similar events in sports, when, for example, last week in the men’s 2nd division of ice hockey in Finland, the Laukaa goalkeeper Meeri Räisänen were subjected to outrageous shouting.
Sällström says that, in his opinion, similar events have been on the rise.
– I don’t think this kind of behavior comes from anywhere. You can’t just sweep things under the rug and think it will go away if it’s not addressed. This is not the right direction.
New game system
Vittsjö GIK plays in the women’s premier league in Damallsvenskan. Sällström signed a two-year contract extension with the club in December.
Last season ended in fifth place in the regular season. The Swedish Cup that started yesterday was also Vittsjö’s season opener.
In that match, Sällström was responsible for his team’s fourth hit in a 5–0 victory.
Although the readings were clear, Sällström says that the game was by no means easy.
– We have a new game system, and there are still applications to be made with it.
When the situation was 1-0 to the away team Vittsjö, the home team got two through runs, which did not produce a result.
The women’s national football team Helmarit plays during the spring in the A1 group of the European Championship qualifiers, where it faces the top countries of Europe, the Netherlands, Italy and Norway. At this moment, Sällström’s biggest dream is for the Helmareites to advance to the EC final tournament.
– It would be great to secure a place for the competition by the summer. Fortunately, we won the National League and the B-League there to get promoted to the A-League.
Even if Helmarit is not among the top two in the qualifying group, the team still has a chance to reach the Games.
– We have a good chance of reaching the games through the further qualifiers and that is definitely our goal.