The sports gala is now forced to apologize – after the embarrassing giant miss in live broadcast: “Deeply unfortunate”

The sports gala was to pay tribute to all sports figures who passed away last year.
Rolf-Inge Andersson was then declared dead – by mistake.
– It is deeply unfortunate, says CEO Stephan Rimér.

Rolf “Kocken” Andersson is the latest Swedish player to score in an international match against England at Wembley. He played in both Hammarby and J-Södra during the 60s and 70s, and made a total of eight international matches for Sweden. In January of last year, the “Chef” died‚ and at the Sports Gala the idea was that he, along with other sports figures who passed away in 2023, would be honored in an “In Memoriam”.

Embarrassing miss

But when Rolf “The Chef” Andersson’s name was shown, it was a completely different picture that was shown. The sports gala declared the death of Rolf-Inge Andersson, a Mjällby icon who made a big impression on the club during the 80s. Rolf-Inge Andersson is alive, and there were many who reacted to the great loss.

Not least Hasse Larsson, who played a full 14 seasons in Mjällby before ending his career in 1993, and who today is an almost iconic sporting director at the club.

– Rolf-Inge is very much alive. It is not good at all, he tells Expressen.

Now forced to apologize

After the embarrassing miss, the Sports Gala is now forced to apologize.

– We can only apologize for this, it is deeply unfortunate that it happened. We sincerely apologize if anyone was offended. It’s not the first time and it’s difficult sometimes with old pictures that don’t always have the right information, says CEO Stephan Rimér.

It is also not the first time that the Sports Gala is responsible for a similar miss. Even during the 2022 Sports Gala, the wrong person was declared dead, when the deceased jockey Bo William Takter’s name contained the wrong image. The sports festival does not know what can be done to avoid the same mistakes in the future.

– I can’t answer that at the moment, because I don’t know what went wrong this time. It’s not something we take lightly. The element is very important to us, and it is something that we spend a lot of time and energy on. The only thing I can promise is that we will do the best we can, says Rimér to Aftonbladet.