The men’s European football qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden will not be repeated. The qualifying game was interrupted on Monday when two Swedish fans were killed in a terrorist attack before the match.
On Monday evening, two Swedes were killed in Brussels, when a man who called himself a supporter of the terrorist organization ISIS shot at Swedish football fans.
There were Swedish football fans in the city at the time because of the European Championship qualifying match between Sweden and Belgium. The match was stopped after the first half in a 1-1 draw when the teams had received information about the shooting.
Now Swedish and the Belgian football associations have accepted the decision made by UEFA on Thursday not to play the match to the end. Belgium has already secured its place in the finals of the European Championship. Sweden no longer has a chance to qualify for the Games.
Due to the situation, Uefa has decided to mark the game as 1-1.
– It’s good that Uefa made a decision and it turned out the way we wanted, all sports matters are secondary now. Secretary General of the Swedish Football Association Håkan Sjöstrand said on the association’s website.
The dead Swedish men were around 60 and 70 years old and were wearing Swedish jerseys. According to the authorities, the shooter chose Swedes as his target on purpose. Today, Thursday, Swedish media SVTsaid that one of the deceased was a passionate football supporter.
The BBC reported on Tuesdaythat the police shot the suspect in connection with the arrest situation in a cafe in the Schaerbeek district, northeast of the Brussels core.
Belgian authorities have said they are investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. In a video he published after the bloodshed, the man swore allegiance to the extremist Islamic terrorist organization Isis and said he took revenge for Muslims.