Fredrik Reinfeldt backs down on VAR

The chairman of the Swedish Football Association, Fredrik Reinfeldt, backs down on introducing the disputed VAR video refereeing system in Swedish football.

– We didn’t put forward any proposal about VAR and I don’t see it in the future either, says Reinfeldt to Sportbladet.

There will also be no VAR requirements from Uefa.

Demands for the resignation of Swedish Football Association chairman Fredrik Reinfeldt have been pouring in. Both via message banners in elite soccer’s standing sections and through motions and decisions at the associations’ annual general meetings.

The conflict: in March 2023, Reinfeldt said he believes the VAR “is our future”.

But today the situation is different. In several elite clubs, the members have voted no to VAR and now two football districts have done the same. In addition, since March of this year, Hammarby has had an annual meeting resolution to work to remove Fredrik Reinfeldt from the post of chairman.

The protagonist receives at the Swedish Football Association’s office in Solna. We take a seat in the chancellery’s largest conference room and it is immediately clear that he has a completely different tone on the matter.

– If I counted correctly, we have eighteen elite clubs and two districts that have said they do not want to introduce VAR. We respect that. That’s why we didn’t bring forward any proposal about VAR to the previous board of representatives meeting and I don’t foresee it in the future either, he says.

Last year you said you think VAR is our future. Are you sticking to it?

– I stand by respecting the democratic rules of the game. There was then a discussion about the possibility of developing requirements for this from Uefa. I don’t think so now, with what I’ve heard. Then it is up to us to make the decisions. Then it is clear how it looks right now, he says.

And what does it look like right now?

– That the clubs and decisions we have do not want the introduction of this specific technology.

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Even before the interview, you could sense that something was different this time.

Via the association’s press manager, Fredrik Reinfeldt received our questions about VAR, his own legislation against masking and pyrotechnics in the stands. Instead of answering in writing, he offered to meet for an interview. The SvFF chairman has set aside 20 minutes.

“That question has been raised too soon…”

From the outside, it appears to have been a tough first year as chairman. Partly the conflict about VAR, partly the criticism from the football districts that Fredrik Reinfeldt has no time for them.

He says he has the time to deal with the ongoing conflict.

– Yes, that is my assessment. It is important to point out what it means to be democratically elected. A year ago I was elected and for a possible review or continuation March next year applies.

Are you running for re-election?

– That question has been raised too soon, for the simple reason that a two-year term of office must be used. I have received a trust and have a mission.

But the gut feeling?

– As I said, I am not going to say anything about it now. I have a two-year mandate where I began at the union meeting by describing an extensive change work that I, together with others, have implemented.

I ask how he will be able to end the conflict that is so centered around him as a person. He says he can only try to do his job. After that, the large conference room is filled with a few seconds of silence.

“Noted the ultrasound prompt”

This year, the order situation at the matches in the Allsvenskan, the Superettan and the Swedish Cup has been relatively calm. But last year, violence broke out at several high-risk matches. Fredrik Reinfeldt has therefore frequently spoken out about the violence that occurs in connection with football.

But since it has been calm, he sees the future brightly and mentions, among other things, the agreement between the men’s Swedish ultras groups not to throw pyrotechnics at the pitch, officials, supporters or in general inside the arena.

– I have noted the ultra groups’ call and agreement, and I want to welcome that responsibility. I think it’s good and that’s how it continues to be, he says.

Last week, Djurgården’s tifo group Sofia tifo opened the door to Sportbladet’s readers. The tifo groups are otherwise secretive and it is rare that the media is allowed in.

– Tifona are impressive, very well made and beautiful and I understand that they develop against each other. It provides a wonderful framework for football, says Fredrik Reinfeldt.

But there is also one subject where they disagree: the pyrotechnics. Sofia tifo, like other Allsvenskan tifo groups, believes that the song, tifot, the Bengals and the community are a whole, and that you cannot “pick raisins from the cake”.

Bengalers are seen by them as one of the most mood-enhancing tools in Swedish football stands.

– You can understand that you can think that. I have seen how pyrotechnic use and typhoon are often shown on social media, it is done all over Europe. But it is also important to say that football belongs to everyone. In that sense, also everyone in the arena and everyone who follows Swedish football on TV. Then an objection is that pyrotechnics create a large amount of smoke and this delays the start of matches, says Fredrik Reinfeldt.

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Watching Norway

At the same time that Sweden’s government is now investigating possible stiffening of penalties for violations of the ban on masking and the use of pyrotechnics, Norway is going in a different direction and is investigating the possibility of an exemption from the ban on pyrotechnics in the stands.

But if something like this is to become a reality here, Fredrik Reinfeldt, as chairman of the football association, must in the near future annul his own legislation from his time as prime minister. Can he do it?

The legislation that prohibits both pyrotechnics and masking in Swedish football stands comes from Reinfeldt’s own government. In the first months as prime minister, early in 2007, the government appointed a task to counter disturbances in connection with sports events and to increase the number of access bans. The work culminated in the fifth chapter of the Ordinance Act. Fredrik Reinfeldt signed the bill on 27 November 2008 and the change in law came into force on 1 April 2009.

– Speaking of what you say about Norway, we monitor and follow with interest what other countries are doing and have close contact with the other Nordic countries, says Reinfeldt.

But beyond that, trying to get Reinfeldt to talk about decisions made during his time as Prime Minister is a dead end. He has previously made a decision not to review his time as prime minister.

– It’s not a decision I made before this interview, it’s a decision I made over ten years ago, he explains.

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“Wonderful that so many people love a football team”

The disorder is a problem. Most of those who misbehave are masked, but he does not want to discuss how well the law works against some of these phenomena. But the use of violence is, according to Reinfeldt, the most urgent thing to do something about, and it is good that the number of access bans is increasing.

– Have we had too many disturbances? Yes. Have we had it in every game? No. We had a smaller number that derailed during the last season, and I share the view that rather this year it has been much calmer, he says.

He concludes by saying that he enjoys his assignment, that it is fun to follow developments in Swedish football.

– It is wonderful that we in Sweden today have so many young people who love a football team, see it as the most important thing in life and get an identity linked to it. That is not the concern. The concern is that other things may come piecemeal and that which is more problematic, which endorses violence and which has a greater impact on society than it should have, says Reinfeldt.

“Doesn’t change my answer”

We had booked in 20 minutes. After 30 minutes, the press manager marks that time is up.

But before Fredrik Reinfeldt leaves the conference room, the press manager clarifies what Reinfeldt said in the SVT interview last June, so that it will be correct in this article. That VAR is the future of Swedish football.

I ask him again if VAR is the future of Swedish football.

– Just remember that Swedish football is also the Swedish national team and Swedish clubs that qualify for European games. They will encounter VAR. But that doesn’t change my answers about respect for democratic principles.

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