Johan Esk: Rosengård acts under strange death threats

There are not too few Swedish feature films and TV series about sports. Martin Bengtsson or another screenwriter has a release here:

Rosengard 2024.

Before the season, no one mentioned the club that took (under different names) 13 SM titles in the debate about future series winners.

Everything here and now was about Häcken or Hammarby.

FC Rosengård was seen as a forerunner of the future. In Malmö, the club would eventually be opened by the investment of Malmö FF women. Nationally, so-called dual clubs – such as Hammarby and Häcken – whose financial muscle is receiving growth assistance from the men’s side would pull away.

The team leads the women’s league in football far and away.

The rumor of Rosengård’s impending death has been shown to be greatly exaggerated. The team leads the women’s league in football far and away. 20 games, 20 wins.

Häcken and Hammarby are in second and third place. 14 and 15 points behind respectively.

Already there, the team has had an amazing season.

What makes it great, impressive and unique is the situation the team is in and has been since last spring.

Then came the first death threat against a player.

There have been several against that particular player and that particular team Rosengård. Now the threats have spread to more players in more teams. This past weekend, security was increased around every game in the series.

The more I learn about the death threats, the less I understand. In the best world, it would all be seen as a strange, sick joke, but there is too much nostalgia in the world for this to be a laughing matter.

The police, the Swedish Football Association, the Elite Women’s Football Association of the clubs and especially Rosengård are taking the threats very seriously.

The club is exposed to unprecedented pressure and chairman Håkan Wifvesson has said to Sydsvenskan:

“We are having a season of great sporting success and most things are going very well, but this situation is over us like a wet blanket. It’s always in our minds that he’s a threat to one of our players.”

I hope it ends the madness.

When the threats came in a second wave and Rosengård was still playing, Wifvesson said there was no other choice. Then the person who threatens would win.

The police are approaching maybe a solution. The IP address of a computer from which the threats were sent has been traced. Hopefully it will end the madness.

Rosengård’s season shows the strength that can be created in a group that is open to unexpected, unwanted external influences.

It also shows that Rosengård’s heyday is far from over.

On the other hand, the risks against elite athletes will not decrease. Not least because of different combinations. Digital access and the large sports gaming market.

At the beginning of September, table tennis star Truls Möregårdh told the Framgångspodden about the threatening messages he and his family received.

“I get a lot of hate from people who plays in games and writes good comments,” said Möregårdh and continued:

“They can write like they lost a few thousand thanks to me and send knife emojis. It’s mostly fake accounts on Instagram. It was never something I moved forward with. We live in such a world that anyone can create accounts and write anything they want. All athletes get it at some point, but at the same time we know these guys won’t do anything to us.”