Hedvig Lindahl Turns Down Saudi Arabia Coaching Job, Becomes Assistant Coach in Västerås SK

Published 2024-02-26 08.32

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Hedvig Lindahl, 40, becomes assistant coach in Västerås SK.

That after she turned down Saudi Arabia.

– Some people think that you should go to areas to change, but right now it wasn’t something for me and I don’t feel that it is relevant.

• The former national team goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl has chosen to turn down a position as goalkeeper coach in Saudi Arabia, mainly due to a lack of human rights.
• Instead, the 40-year-old Lindahl takes the role of assistant coach for the women’s team in Västerås SK, a decision that has mainly met with positive reactions.
• Lindahl has not yet decided on his future career as a player, but sees the coaching profession as an exciting opportunity to explore.

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The former national team goalkeeper was offered a job as goalkeeper coach in Saudi Arabia during the spring.

– But I refused.

Before the World Cup in Qatar, she called Monika Staab, then the captain of the Saudi women’s national team and now the technical director of the Saudi Football Association.

– She painted a very positive picture from there. She has been a missionary type and tried to develop women’s football in many different countries and she felt that there was a lot of positive in the environment she was in now.

– Then I have friends of Arab origin who got involved in the Saudi League and with the girls there who absolutely think you should go there and get involved.

Therefore she refused

But there were mainly two reasons why Hedvig Lindahl chose not to take up the offer. One was that an energy company was involved purely financially and the other was the lack of human rights.

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full screen Hedvig Lindahl. Photo: Peter Wixtröm / Peter Wixtröm

– It still doesn’t feel like there’s enough to make me think that it feels perfectly fine. There are still too many human rights issues. Although I think it’s complicated. How the hell do you help the girls? I think the discussion is damn difficult.

In Västerås SK, the 40-year-old becomes an assistant coach in the club’s women’s team, which came second in division 2 last year.

– First of all, you can be clear that the role is not that big.

The goalkeeper, whose contract with Djurgården was broken during the season last year, started working as an instructor for goalkeepers studying football at the high school in Västerås last fall. That’s how she got to know the coach of the women’s team, Markus Lindberg.

– This is an opportunity for me to learn about the coaching profession and learn from Markus, who is very experienced and talented, so it’s exciting.

Do you see yourself as a head coach in the future?

– I don’t actually know if I want to become a head coach someday, but I understand that football is my arena where I have the knowledge and I need to keep one foot in that arena, but there are many different roles.

Met with criticism

It has been just under a week since her new role became public and she herself has mostly come across happy shouts.

– Everyone in reality has been positive. Some on the internet have obviously thought that now it is no fun that Hedvig should come to our association.

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full screen Hedvig Lindahl. Photo: Kenta Jönsson / Bildbyrån

What do you think about there being that kind of reaction online?

– I don’t have a really realistic picture of what happens on the internet because I’ve blocked a lot of people, so I have no idea and what you don’t know doesn’t make you feel bad.

Ever since she came back to Swedish football, Hedvig Lindahl has taken up the debate around stand culture. She sees the fact that this is what is now provoking people as another sign that there is a problem.

– If you now get so angry that I say we should have safe football experiences… Then that will be up to you.

– It becomes clear where my values ​​are and I am proud of them. I stand anchored in them, then I have nothing to be ashamed of. I know where VSK stands on the issue and it felt important to me before I got involved.

Uncertain about the future

It has been eight months since Lindahl last scored in a competitive match and she herself does not know if her playing career is over.

– That is a very difficult question to answer. We can probably agree that betting against the elite is not something I do. I am not willing to sacrifice all that is required. Have I played my last game? I’m probably in a bit of an identity crisis.

Lindahl appreciates the newfound freedom where everything does not revolve around football and where the physical form does not have to be at its peak. However, she wonders if there might be a place out there somewhere where she can play a game every now and then.

– If so, what level is it and what is required of me? How do you do it without ruining it for someone else on the way up? I’m still very much a gamer in my head, but I also find all this other stuff very exciting.

– I’m in the process of deidentifying myself as a player, but I can’t say if I’ve played my last game.

2024-02-27 01:47:03
#Lindahl #reveals #offered #job #Saudi #Arabia