Sports and outdoor life

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Mr. Speaker! The Moderate-led government takes the question of the possibility of an active and meaningful life most seriously. The government's policy aims for everyone in Sweden to be given the opportunity to exercise and engage in sports, to promote good health, and to support a free sports movement. In a time when social media and mental ill-health are increasing, especially among young women and girls, sports and association life have a particularly large and important role in society.

Sports and outdoor life

The drivers of sports are many. It is joy, community, pride, the feeling of becoming stronger, and celebrating successes and victories together. I am therefore proud that the Moderate-led government, on a broad front, has a policy to enable an active and meaningful leisure time for more.

Mr. Speaker! Participation for children and young people in various sports activities has not only recovered after the pandemic but is currently at a record high. We do, however, know that the association life and sports do not always reach those who need it most or who wish to be a part of the association life and sports life.

During 2025, the leisure card will be launched. Almost 800 million kronor are estimated to go annually to this large and unique initiative aimed at children and young people aged 8-16. The card will be able to be used for regular activities within leisure, culture, outdoor organizations, and other organizations within civil society. The purpose of the leisure card is to promote movement and community in everyday life.

Inflation finally seems to be heading downwards. But households are still being pressured by high interest rates and food costs. For the Moderaterna, it is important that the opportunity for active leisure time should not be determined by the parents' wallet. The opportunity for nutritious food should not be weighed against the children's opportunity to play sports or to participate in a cultural activity or an outdoor activity.

But it is not only the Moderate-led government and the work being done now that will create better conditions for movement and sports. Right now, a transformation process is also underway within the sports movement under the name Strategy 2025. The purpose is that more people should want to and be able to participate in association life throughout their lives.

Adaptations are made for a more modern life. It is about restructuring sports so that more people can participate, so that more people can stay longer, and so that we can reach new target groups, and above all those who are furthest away. It is this group that is in greatest need of physical activity. It is there that health-promoting interventions will make the greatest difference.

Mr. Speaker! Research shows that it is more girls than boys who do not reach the recommended level of physical activity. Club participation is lower for children with disabilities, for children living in socioeconomically weak areas, and especially for girls with a foreign background. This is something we cannot accept.

As an active member of the sports movement and as the person responsible for sports issues for the Moderaterna, I am saddened by this. However, the motivation to push forward on these issues becomes stronger. Everyone who wants to should be able to participate in sports and develop individually and together with others.

I mentioned earlier in my speech that politics and the sports movement need to work so that more people stay within sports and association life at higher ages. This is because we live longer. Then we also need to train at higher ages. We know that one does not need to train at a high level to be able to feel better or perform better. The small differences make the big differences.

The results of research show that sports and outdoor activities seem to counteract the increased school stress among young people. Therefore, a collaboration between different actors – for example, schools, sports clubs, but also outdoor clubs – is of great importance to reduce young people's mental ill-health but above all to increase their well-being. For students, it can mean better concentration in school, increased learning ability, strengthened self-confidence, and increased alertness.

Speaking encouragingly about the importance of participating in physical education, taking the stairs yourself instead of the elevator, or signing yourself or your family up for a competitive race also creates a positive view of movement, and the health benefits are a fact.

Mr. Speaker! The government's policy for sports aimed at children and young people also targets adults and the elderly. In order for the voluntary sector to be able to conduct sports and other activities effectively, it is crucial that they have access to good conditions for, for example, events on state transport infrastructure.

It is therefore pleasing that the government has decided that Trafikverket may now waive requesting compensation from non-profit associations and organizations for costs related to marathon races, competition races, and other events on state roads. Through the government's joint efforts, opportunities are now opened to organize activities such as cycling races under more favorable conditions. This is positive both for public health and for voluntary engagement.

Mr. Speaker! In my assignment, I have traveled across the country and the realm to watch, to cheer on, but also to personally participate in competition races. And wherever I go, I see that associations and cities, precisely in these contexts, pick up the best and showcase the best. I see a creativity, a leadership, and a voluntary work. I see families doing things together, I see determination, and I see fantastic sporting achievements. I see a wife and children cheering on a father who participates in a competition, a mother and a daughter competing together, an older couple who have decided to reach the finish line, and a brother who drives his wheelchair-bound sister in a marathon. It is greater than the sport itself.

Madam Speaker! I see a people's festival, a pride and a sense of community that I wish would be shared by all citizens, and I feel that the inspiration this provides can bring even greater benefit and joy to all who take part in it.

Madam Speaker! I lead the network for para-sports here in the Riksdag. We must not forget this group, which today faces an obstacle course even before they have reached the training facility or are about to begin a competition race. I know that every human being has potential that, with the help of an active and physical life, will be able to flourish. In addition to the fact that this group, of course, feels the same benefit of physical activity as all the rest of us, efforts that contribute to the sense of community for just this group may be extra important.

Madam Speaker! The World Health Organization WHO has, in a report, calculated what the lack of physical activity costs different countries in the form of diseases and healthcare costs that we could have avoided if we moved more, not to mention the human suffering – if that can even be counted in money. For Sweden's part, it is still about approximately 1.3 billion kronor annually. The report shows what enormous gains there are to be made in investing in physical activity.

The committee has been tasked with submitting proposals that can lead to increased physical activity and reduced sedentary behavior - perhaps our time's greatest challenge when it comes to health. The committee reaches an important conclusion: Every movement makes a difference.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Amanda Lind (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you to Emma Ahlström Köster for an inspiring speech! We have spoken a number of times in different forums about the importance of exactly movement and sports for everyone. This is a commitment that I know the member and I share.

In June last year, the Committee on the Promotion of Physical Activity submitted its final report. There, exactly what the member said is emphasized: Every movement counts. We know that we have an enormous challenge with sedentary behavior and that we have a movement gap in our society, where different groups move different amounts.

The committee submitted a number of broad proposals for how the entire society can implement measures to promote increased physical activity. These range from urban planning and interventions within health and medical care to that which is our area of responsibility and what we are debating today, namely outdoor life, sports, and civil society.

Among other things, the committee proposed some items concerning the report we are debating today. These include, among other things, strengthening the grant for Swedish outdoor life, establishing a state subsidy for organizations promoting physical activity, and amending the Social Insurance Act so that sports and outdoor life are equated when it comes to leader-led activities. The committee also thinks that we should develop a strategy so that we can bring all these initiatives together.

I know that the government is doing some work in both the sports and outdoor life areas, but I lack the holistic perspective. I would therefore like to ask the member: What is in the works regarding the follow-up of the Committee for the Promotion of Physical Activity's final report last year?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Madam Speaker! I agree that we share the commitment to sports and outdoor issues, which I have the opportunity to be a part of the leadership for here in the Riksdag.

To answer the question briefly: We are following the results closely. I agree that one will absolutely be able to do more to facilitate, but we must not do things faster than we can do them with quality.

The government is closely following the reports that exist. We are positive about what emerges, and we view the leisure card positively, which will be able to do some of the work highlighted in the report.

The answer to the question is therefore that we are following this closely and that we will do things. Step one is the leisure card, but after that we obviously have an enormous opportunity to do much more.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Amanda Lind (MP)

Madam Speaker! When we stood here in the chamber a year ago, I had submitted proposals regarding precisely the Committee for the Promotion of Increased Physical Activity. I have also done so in this motion report. This time, I received as an answer to my proposals that the committee notes that the proposals from the Committee for the Promotion of Increased Physical Activity are being prepared within the Government Offices and that the work should not be anticipated.

The member did not comment on the preparatory work, and I am a bit curious about how one views the development of a strategy, a collective effort to promote physical activity, and also on broadening the support. The support for sports and for areas with low sports participation, where I know the government has allocated funds, is very good. We in Miljöpartiet want to strengthen this initiative further.

But we also know that the outdoor life organizations contribute strongly and are important for achieving a breadth. There is also a need to invest in organizations that work to promote movement outside of these two established branches in the movement-promoting work.

I would therefore like to hear a little more about how the preparatory work is progressing and how one views the strategy and the targeted investments within our area of responsibility, which we are debating today.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Madam Speaker! I must disappoint the members a little, as I cannot answer exactly where we are in this work right now. But I know that this is highly topical.

I can already today announce that Sports Minister Forssmed will come with a surprise regarding another matter that has not been previously announced, which is related to this. It is therefore about seeing the breadth.

I agree with Amanda Lind's ambition: We need to have a strategy in such a way that more parts of society contribute to increased mobility. I know that the government is positive towards that type of mindset.

This is, however, still in its infancy. We have a lot of information, and we will return to exactly what it all means. We are following the work, and we have the same direction and ambition: We need to have more movement in Swedish society, and there is much we can do. So stay tuned!

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Amanda Lind (MP)

Madam Speaker! Sweden's nature is absolutely fantastic. Through organized outdoor life and the opportunity to get out into nature where one lives or a bit further away, we all get the chance to experience Sweden's varied nature with all our senses.

We know that it is good for health to get out and move, and we know that it is extra good for health to get out and move specifically in nature. Both the knowledge of the Swedish nature and the opportunity to spend time in it provide the conditions for a lifelong positive well-being. It is concerning today that we also see a divide between people in this area, a nature divide.

Since the outdoor life policy goals were established in 2012, much has changed in our surroundings. Sedentary behavior among children is increasing. We have an increasing mental ill-health. Children and young people now spend 70 percent of their waking time sitting still. This, Madam Speaker, is naturally deeply worrying. Reversing that development is necessary, both for the well-being of individual children and young people and for society as a whole.

Madam Speaker! An active outdoor life can counteract these trends and thus contribute to great societal gains. Every krona that society invests in physical activity yields almost four times back, British research shows. In addition to the fact that we feel better from physical activity and the social contact that follows from outdoor activities, the nature experience itself also has a positive impact on our health. There is scientific support that time spent outdoors and nature experiences lead to a reduction in both mental exhaustion and stress, while it can also strengthen our self-esteem and our cognitive ability.

Madam Speaker! In 2020, the Culture Committee decided to carry out a political follow-up of the outdoor life policy goals. In the spring of 2021, it was decided that the follow-up should focus on four of the goals - Allemansrätten (the right of public access), Attractive nature near urban areas, Access to nature for outdoor life, and A rich outdoor life in schools. The follow-up was completed in the spring of 2022 and was presented in a very interesting report which shows that there is a need to strengthen outdoor life policy in several areas.

Madam Speaker! During last year's general motion period, Miljöpartiet submitted a number of motions on how we could do exactly this. It was about strengthening outdoor life broadly by protecting more nature, safeguarding nature near urban areas, caring for our nature and our outdoor areas, and strengthening outdoor life in schools, but also about proceeding with the recommendations that the Cultural Committee's evaluation pointed out, for example that we must strengthen the coordination in the work with the goals and look at exactly which indicators we have to follow up on the goals. An effective follow-up is, in fact, important so that we know what we can do to actually become better.

The committee unfortunately rejected the motion proposals. The committee wrote that they naturally supported the follow-up and evaluation report but referred to the fact that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency would submit proposals on how the goals should be achieved in December 2023. They also referred to a new follow-up in 2025. The committee expressed it as assuming that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency would take the committee's views into account when the agency's proposals for goal fulfillment were submitted to the government in December 2023, and that they therefore did not want to anticipate the investigation, and thus they rejected our motion proposals.

When I now look at what the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency concluded in the follow-up, I see that many actors in society have carried out interventions for outdoor life. Unfortunately, however, only three of the outdoor life policy goals are judged to have a positive developmental direction. Most are negative or neutral. For example, Accessible nature for everyone has had a negative development, and Attractive nature near urban areas likewise. Even Good knowledge of outdoor life points in the wrong direction. This, Madam Speaker, is also alarming.

Despite many efforts having been made, we need to do more. What the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is doing – and this is where it becomes interesting – is to submit several concrete proposals to the government on what needs to be done. It is about reviewing the possibilities for civil society to act for outdoor life. It is about the social security contributions, which we have motioned for and debated here in the chamber earlier, that is to say that outdoor life should have similar conditions as the sports movement to employ leaders and thus be able to guide people out into nature. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency also points out that the outdoor life policy target system must be clarified, namely exactly what the Miljöpartiet urged for last year in its outdoor life motion.

Madam Speaker! This is a motion that naturally remains. It is something we continue to think the government and the majority of the Riksdag should address. Take a collective grip on our outdoor life policy! Everything is on the table. There are proposals from the Culture Committee's evaluation. There are proposals from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. There are also several motions that we are now processing and which are also unfortunately rejected – with rather vague arguments. Both the Center Party and the Green Party have motions that are being swept under the rug.

I think it is sad, Madam Speaker. I am, in fact, convinced that a more accessible outdoor life for everyone and a more accessible nature would be better both for individuals in our society and for our society as a whole.

Madam Speaker! I also want to say a few words about the sports movement, our fantastic largest popular movement. We recently debated how important it is to ensure that all children and young people have access to movement in everyday life. There are many ways we can do that, but it is clear that the sports movement constitutes an entirely specially important part. In organized sports, children and young people, not least, get fantastic opportunities to work together with others, practice democracy and interaction, and of course also experience and develop a joy of movement and physical health.

Madam Speaker! The sports movement is strong. Several political initiatives have been made, both by the former red-green government and by the current government. That is good. The initiative on sports in vulnerable areas is important and should be strengthened. Sports are segregated. We know that sports in themselves cannot compensate for economic or social inequality or segregation. For that, other political interventions are needed. But sports mean a lot for the individual, and all children should be given the opportunity to experience the meaningfulness, the health promotion, and the social community that involvement in the sports movement entails. We also know that sports in themselves fulfill an important function in the work of promoting integration and in crime prevention work.

Madam Speaker! The leisure card is often returned to the Tidö parties as this mandate period's major initiative. Certainly, there are good reasons to have an ambition that more children and young people should be able to participate in sports. We shall now see if the leisure card can be designed in such a way that it reaches all children and functions. I have in previous debates expressed doubts about this but naturally follow the work with interest.

It was as follows, Madam Speaker, that 731 million kronor were allocated in this year's budget to the leisure card. It has been a major question what will happen with those funds. Now, Jakob Forssmed has actually issued a statement today regarding what will happen with parts of the money. I read in a press release that 300 million will be allocated, partly to the sports movement and partly to market the card in various ways for the future.

It is good with money for sports. It is good that money comes to sports facilities and to vulnerable areas. But I naturally ask the question: Where is the rest of the money? It was 731 million. Where is the rest?

Madam Speaker! My speaking time is up. There are very many things I could mention, such as e-sports, the issue of sports facilities, and the importance of Sweden taking leadership when it comes to major international sports competitions. We also have a motion regarding Sami sports.

I naturally stand behind all our motions in the report but choose to move for approval only to reservation 4 regarding sports in vulnerable areas.

(Applause)

In this speech, Ulrika Westerlund (MP) agreed.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! We are debating the Committee on Culture's report on Sports and Outdoor Life. I stand behind the committee's position.

It is important to move, we all realize that – young and old. When I grew up, there was an advertisement that I never forget. A man named Arne Tammer gave, through an advertisement in all the major weekly newspapers, a promise to the Swedish people: Give me a quarter of an hour a day and I will give you a new body! There was a time when it was considered that only athletes and eccentrics engaged in bodybuilding, but Arne Tammer started a mass movement when 400,000 people joined his correspondence course. Nothing is said about who received a new body, but surely many got into motion – at least for a while.

"I wouldn't be able to manage to stop training," said Arne Tammer.

What is the government doing for the young people today? It is well known that the Swedish Sports Confederation receives 100 million kronor to develop sports activities, primarily for children and young people in vulnerable areas. It is a permanent annual support. It is therefore not removed until some government decides so. These interventions are to take place in areas where there are conditions for long-term work, first and foremost in areas where criminals have an influence on the local community.

Of course, this will become part of the fight against crime and the recruitment of young people into various gangs. The initiative will enable more children and young people to gain access to a meaningful and active leisure time when they enter contexts where they can experience community in association life and be seen and encouraged by engaged leaders.

It can have many positive effects. We know that precisely the sense of belonging and having a task is important for well-being. Someone has even said that the feeling of being in a context and having a task is the meaning of life.

Madam Speaker! The Government has tasked the Public Health Agency to, together with the Media Authority, compile knowledge on children's and young people's media use, i.e., screen time. The assignment also includes, as it is called, investigating how the commercial platforms' algorithms and interaction design affect children's and young people's use and health. Based on that compilation of knowledge, the Public Health Agency shall develop guidelines and recommendations to support children and young people and their parents toward a healthy and balanced use.

Even our neighboring countries have begun to realize how important it is to review screen time, especially when it concerns children. The Norwegian government has tasked what is called the Skjermbrukutvalget with producing a knowledge base on how children's and young people's screen use in preschool, school, and during leisure time affects health, quality of life, learning, and upbringing. Parts of the assignment are carried out in cooperation with the Swedish Public Health Agency (Folkhälsomyndigheten).

In research, people often talk about displacement effects, meaning that digital media competes out other activities. This means, for example, that children and young people move less, eat worse, and sleep less because they engage in internet-based activities.

Research also shows that digital media can have negative effects on young people's mental health and lead to impaired learning and lack of language development in children. When small children use screens, human interaction is inhibited and the children end up in a digital bubble.

What the Public Health Agency is doing could be at least a partial answer to the measures from the government that have been requested in previous statements. That the Public Health Agency has this assignment is an important measure.

Madam Speaker! A large proportion of children and young people actually believe that they use digital media too much. In the Swedish Media Council's latest survey, at least half, i.e., over 50 percent, of young people aged 13-18 stated that they spent too much time on their mobile phones and that they would instead like to spend more time on other activities, such as socializing offline or exercising.

The recommendation is that children and young people need and should be physically active for at least one hour a day. Today, only two out of ten children meet the recommendations for physical activity.

Even everyday movement is decreasing. A study shows that many teenagers practically do not move at all on weekends. They hardly roll out of bed, as some researchers express it.

At the same time, as many as a third of parents reported that conflicts over screen time are the greatest challenge in parenting. Most parents request more information and guidance to better manage such conflicts – hence the government's initiative. To claim that nothing is being done is therefore incorrect.

It feels natural to conclude my speech by speaking about the leisure card, which is one of the culture cut's most debated proposals here in the chamber. There are many who are now involved in developing a solution that works over time – Riksidrottsförbundet, MUCF, Svenskt Friluftsliv, among others. We look forward to it becoming, during the next year, what I have said for so long, several years actually, here in the chamber: a leisure card loaded with a sum that children and young people can use to participate in leader-led activities.

Times are changing. Arne Tammer has left this world, but his thoughts on being in motion every day are highly relevant even today. But these are new times. New technology and new media have made it so that even politics must step in and guide people's behaviors. It should not be so, but it is for everyone's own good.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anne-Li Sjölund (C)

Madam Speaker! I was worried for a short moment that Member Roland Utbult would not bring up the leisure card. I have, in fact, lobbied for this.

We share the intentions. We all want the best for children and young people. We want to give them an active and meaningful leisure time. This is something we have talked about a lot. I do not believe there is anyone who thinks otherwise. But I still find it a bit difficult to understand this matter regarding the leisure card, which is the major investment in children and young people.

The intentions are fine, but in the partial report from Försäkringskassan, they speak of that only introducing the IT system itself will cost 291 million kronor. In that case, nothing else is included. They say that until 2031, it will cost 1.8 billion kronor to administer this card.

I am incredibly curious to hear how one thinks. Does the member mean, after Försäkringskassan's partial report, that it is a wise idea to let millions of kronor go to administration and bureaucracy?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I shall try to help Member Sjölund to understand this matter regarding the leisure card and what is happening right now.

Försäkringskassan has submitted a basis where they are critical and questioning. Just as the member says, they have views, including that it will cost a lot of money.

The basis has been submitted to the government, which is handling it now and will respond to it. I have no possibility of answering exactly what that response will be. It is, as said, being handled. I do not know if the member is satisfied with the answer, but that is how it is anyway.

It is the government that handles the issue, and we know that there is a water gap outside the house that separates us slightly from the government. We do not know everything that happens in the government's work. But I know one thing, namely that the issue is being handled.

Just as the member says, we share a great commitment to children and young people. We believe it is so important that children and young people get moving. We want them to feel good, that they should experience that life has challenges that they can overcome. I think it is a pity that politics must intervene in behaviors, but for the children's best interests, the government takes various measures, for example, trying to reduce screen time.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anne-Li Sjölund (C)

Madam Speaker! I thank the member for the answer.

It is fantastic if it will not cost a single krona, which seems completely impossible. If that were the case, it would be good.

I am pleased to hear that money is to be allocated from this year's pot of 730 million. I have previously asked where the money will go and how it will reach children and young people right now. It is a question of 300 million. The other 430 can presumably be thought to go towards some type of construction of a system or something else. I do not know that. I can only guess, just as you can guess when the other part is finished.

There are other ways to distribute the money. We both listened to a woman who said that in her organization, there are 120 children in the queue. They can take in 30. When a child comes with the card and says "yes, now I want to be included," the leader has to say that she is sorry because the queue is too long.

There is a problem with the fact that there are no leaders. Those within the leisure activities say that they do not have resources to accept more because there are too few leaders. We should perhaps ensure that there are leaders, premises, and so on on site before we issue a card. I am worried that the money will not be available for the children's best interests and used as intended.

How do you think? Do you think it feels reasonable that so much money goes to administration?

(ANDRE VICE TALMANNEN: I remind you that we address each other as member or by first and last name.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I thank Member Anne-Li Sjölund for another question regarding how I perceive this and what the money is to be used for.

There can be problems in the associations. Things happen all the time everywhere. One cannot avoid all obstacles on the way.

But the intention itself is that children and young people should get moving, that they should receive a card loaded with opportunities for sports activities or to attend the culture school. I mean that the card can help children and young people who normally do not come into contact with sports or the culture school. I believe that Member Sjölund and I are passionate about more people being able to enter a context where they experience community and can develop as human beings.

Where the 450 million are is nothing I can answer right now, but 300 million go to activities that benefit the sports movement. The remaining millions will surely be handled in a good way. I have confidence in Minister Forssmed.

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Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Madam Speaker! That the leisure card means a lot to Roland Utbult and the government has not gone past.

What other important reforms do Roland Utbult and the government see for the sports area?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I thank Member Azadeh Rojhan.

There are clear intentions from the government's side. There are also proposals, and there is that which has been implemented. There are 100 million for sports in vulnerable areas, an intervention for areas where opportunities are lacking. In areas where one does not reach children and young people, these 100 million will become important. The money is permanent and will be there year after year until a government—God forbid—removes the possibility. It is a reform.

I described in my speech that the Public Health Agency has been tasked to review computer use - screen use, as I call it. Let us turn this around; it is a very important reform. If one reduces the use of screens and computers, and does not end up in the bubble, one will activate in other ways. I believe strongly in that.

It is a pity that politics should interfere with people's behavior, but in some way, it does. Society looks the way it does, technology is developing, and that means we have difficulty resisting if politics does not introduce certain regulations.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Madam Speaker! I note that I did not hear anything about new reforms concerning the sports area. I understand that because the leisure card seems to be becoming the government's only initiative in the sports area. It is an incredibly expensive and costly reform. It is a question of 700 million solely for the reform, to get money out to children and young people, but it will amount to nearly 1 billion in bureaucracy money.

This does not leave much over to carry out other reforms. These are reforms that would have met the challenges that we can see in the sports movement today and that would have lowered the thresholds for more children and young people to get into sports.

Emma Ahlström Köster said in the exchange with Amanda Lind that the leisure card is step one, but unfortunately, I could not request a reply. That naturally raised questions for me. What is step two or step three? Therefore, the question to Roland Utbult is: What other reforms do Roland Utbult and the government envision?

If there are steps two and three – but they might not exist – where will the money come from? Will there be any more general investments in sports, or will all the money go to a costly reform?

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Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I thank Azadeh Rojhan for the question. I could ask a provocative counter-question, namely what the children are worth.

I know that the member and I share the view that we safeguard children's rights and opportunities. I do not doubt that we are in agreement on that.

This is based on a vision of truly making a difference. The proposal that the Christian Democrats initially submitted, and which we have debated and discussed here year after year, is based on a genuine desire to create a change for children and young people.

If you make the cost the main issue, it is clear that it will be difficult with very many reforms. But this thing with 1 billion in bureaucracy made me a bit thoughtful. I have to check that up. I think it sounds a bit unfounded, actually.

What pleases me is that we share a commitment to children and young people. Because we do, I believe that we will shape this in the best possible way moving forward. Regardless of the government, I believe that it will stay and remain. I hope so, Madam Speaker and Member Azadeh Rojhan.

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Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Madam Speaker! Swedish sports are an important and positive force in our society that rests on a strong foundation of volunteerism and voluntary work. With 3.2 million members in 20,000 voluntary associations and 650,000 leaders, the sports movement is Sweden's largest popular movement with activities throughout our long country.

Sport is not just about practicing sports and creating the elite athletes of the future. No, sport shapes people daily. Here, children and young people are trained in values such as cooperation, leadership, and fair play – values that are important not only on the sports field but also outside, in everyday life.

The importance of sports for better physical and mental health is widely known. In a time of increased sedentary behavior and mental ill-health in all age groups, but primarily among children and young people, sports are more important than ever.

According to the Centre for Sports Research, the group of young people who are least active is also the group that is hardest to reach. The problem is that they are not appealed to by either sports in school or what club sports offer. They perceive themselves as excluded from the prevailing sports culture that exists both within sports clubs and in school. Here, the sports movement needs increased resources to be able to find new and alternative opportunities for physical activity that appear inclusive.

Madam Speaker! Swedish association sports create good opportunities for integration. Sports' universal language and its ability to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers make it an effective tool for building bridges between different social groups. The Swedish Sports Confederation already conducts an inclusive activity that contributes to integration. This is a development that we Social Democrats want to continue to support.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats also want Sweden to be a country where we continue to nurture the great internationally recognized athletes of the future. Sweden would be much, much more boring without Armand Duplantis, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Charlotte Kalla and Sarah Sjöström and all their victories. Given Sweden's size, it is absolutely fantastic that we can boast of so many internationally recognized athletes.

But here there are also a lot of challenges. In an article in DN, the athletics federation captain Kajsa Bergqvist says that it is only a third of her World Championship squad of 32 people who can live off their sport. That is unfortunately how it looks in many sports. Many of the best athletes today live under very meager conditions.

The previous S-led government commissioned the inquiry into a security system for all, which in June 2023 presented proposals on alternative ways to calculate an individual's sickness benefit-determining income. Unfortunately, that inquiry has ended up in a drawer in the current government, and no one has seen a trace of it. We Social Democrats believe that young athletes who want to invest in their sport should be able to feel the same security as everyone else and be covered by the same social insurances and future pension opportunities. We urge the government to pull out this inquiry to first and foremost move forward with the proposals that improve the conditions for many arts and culture practitioners, but also to review how athletes can be covered by the proposals that exist in the inquiry.

Madam Speaker! The sports movement has for several years highlighted the issue of facilities as one of the greatest challenges for sports in Sweden. This concerns the lack of facilities and sports environments as well as the great need to renovate and make already existing ones accessible. The lack of facilities is a major reason why children and young people either do not get to practice their sport at all or get to do so to a much lesser extent than desired. Another challenge that the sports movement highlights is the great need to educate and recruit leaders, not least young leaders. The sports movement considers both of these challenges to be crucial for how the movement will manage to make sports accessible to more people.

A high school student, Linn, whom I met last week here in the Riksdag, told me enthusiastically about her gymnastics club. She told me that she has played sports her whole life and therefore knows how much sports can mean. For her, gymnastics is a sanctuary filled with joy and community, something she wants to share with the children she coaches. She also told me that her gymnastics association today has 1,210 active members. But they also have 1,000 children and young people waiting for the activities, this solely due to a lack of premises and a lack of coaches. This is not unique to Linn's gymnastics club. Today, a third of children's and youth associations are forced to turn away new members due to a lack of time and space.

We Social Democrats want to see greater measures to tackle the facility issues. The previous S-led government implemented a coordination initiative of 80 million kronor and expanded the mandate of the Centre for Sports Research to look more closely at the facility issues. This is, however, not enough. The municipalities are requesting the possibility of co-financing for the new construction and renovation of facilities. It is also against this background that we Social Democrats believe that the question of a state sports facility fund should be investigated urgently.

Madam Speaker! It is with reference to the existing challenges within sports that we Social Democrats find it difficult to understand the government's investment in the leisure card, which also appears to be the government's only major investment in the sports area. It is an investment of 700 million that is also constantly being postponed.

Jakob Forssmed said in an interpellation debate with me last week that we would soon see how these funds would be used. Now we have just been informed that the government intends to distribute 200 million kronor of these 700 million to, among others, the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet) for improved access to sports facilities. We are happy about that. The government has adopted the solution that we proposed and complied with our proposal. But where are the remaining funds, and what will they be used for?

This does not mean that the government does not intend to continue implementing the expensive reform that the leisure card is. Expensive it will become. Now that all five agencies that were tasked with preparing the introduction of the leisure card have returned with their reports, we are met with astonishing figures.

Försäkringskassan currently estimates costs at around 700 million kronor for the first few years alone. In addition to that, it appears in the E-hälsomyndigheten's report from January that other agencies working with the leisure card estimate the costs to be around 239 million kronor during the coming years. In total, this amounts to agency costs of nearly 1 billion kronor.

If we then calculate based on these figures, we have 700 million kronor for the reform itself, that is, the money that is hopefully intended to reach children and young people. To that is added 1 billion kronor in bureaucracy. This means that for every membership that the reform is intended to provide support for, one membership is "lost" due to costs for bureaucracy.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats understand the government's ambition with the leisure card. However, we argue that this costly reform risks becoming toothless in the face of existing challenges and that it will not produce the effects that the government desires.

What happens when more children and young people come and knock on a club's door and want to become members, but instead are referred to a queue that has been added due to too few leaders or due to the facility problems that exist all around the country? Or is this reform primarily aimed at children and young people who are already within the sport? The risk is that this is how the outcome of the reform will be.

If the purpose of the leisure card is for more children and young people to engage in sports and participate in meaningful activities, as well as to reduce sedentary behavior in this target group, we believe that the leisure card reform is starting in the wrong direction.

Madam Speaker! Outdoor life is a cornerstone of nature conservation policy. Regardless of circumstances, all people, including children and young people, should have the opportunity to spend time in nature and engage in outdoor life with the right of public access as the basis. We Social Democrats believe that the conditions for people to engage in outdoor life should continue to be developed in all parts of the country. Therefore, we Social Democrats invested 250 million kronor more than the government in the nature conservation appropriations in the state budget for 2023. We intended that the appropriation should be used for measures for the maintenance and management of protected nature, the preservation and restoration of biodiversity, and to make nature reserves accessible and to make efforts for an enhanced outdoor life.

We also want to strengthen the outdoor organizations' support for the school's activities with outdoor days and outdoor pedagogy, as well as promote initiatives for outdoor activities for children and young people, not least children in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.

Madam Speaker! Swedish sports and Swedish outdoor life are unique. They are popular movements that unite sport with social engagement and that shape the leaders of the future. Our role as politicians is to be attentive to how we can create the best conditions for these movements and act accordingly.

With these words, I move for approval of reservation 1.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Madam Speaker! I would like to thank Azadeh Rojhan for a speech which was, in any case, engaging. But no one can be surprised by the audacity of this speech. Azadeh Rojhan highlights point after point of things that she sees a need for in Sweden today when it comes to sports. These are things that she wants to be done – problems and challenges. But she has at the same time missed that the government has picked up on all these points.

The government is working today to get a leisure card in place. It is a completely unique initiative that aims to reach precisely the group that Member Rojhan wishes should have access to sports. We have such an initiative.

We have also announced that we have now saved competitions on state roads. Previously, Trafikverket could charge a cost for that. We have made it possible to avoid this cost. We have made an exception so that it can still take place. In this way, more can participate and compete and challenge themselves, and more can participate in organizing, working around it, and being a part of the sports movement.

We are also investing 100 million kronor in facilities. These are entirely new funds so that the number of facilities in Sweden can be increased – sports facilities that make it possible for more people to attend and participate in sports.

We are also investing 100 million kronor in children and young people and sports in vulnerable areas. It is also more money allocated to the Swedish Sports Confederation for outreach work.

Then my question is: What did the Social Democrats do during eight years that corresponds to a small part of what the government is now proposing?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Madam Speaker! This is a rhetorical trick that many use, namely that one uses the question to refer to something that has happened previously instead of standing for the policy that one is pursuing here and now.

The fact is that the government is led by the Moderaterna with the support of SD. And the fact is that 2 billion kronor are to be spent on implementing a reform that we have seen no sign of and which has not contributed to a single child getting into motion. The fact is that all municipalities are crying out for money to be able to meet the problems they see in their facilities and money for the needs they have to also build new facilities.

700 million kronor for this reform could have been the start of building up a new infrastructure fund, something that we actually proposed from the Social Democrats when we saw that this reform was repeatedly delayed. 1 billion kronor in bureaucracy, is that reasonable? Is it perhaps time for this government to set aside its pride and say that this became much larger than intended? This money could be used in a completely different way.

My question is: Is it not cheeky to move forward with a reform that appears to impoverish the sports movement and general investments in the sports movement for many years to come?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Madam Speaker! No, I am not using any rhetorical tricks to try to make a point other than the one that is relevant here, which is that one stands and speaks passionately because one is passionate about engaging in sports issues when one has not achieved anything oneself in eight years. But then, when one has lost government power, one suddenly has a whole palette of things that one would like to do. But these things are, moreover, already underway.

I understand that it is inconvenient for the Social Democrats that we have now come up with such concrete proposals that will actually make a difference. I understand that it is inconvenient for the Social Democrats that we will be able to reach more of those who stand furthest away.

Of course, one could put the money into the system that we already have. But if you do exactly the same thing as you already do, you also get the same result that you already have.

Here the government is trying to do something else in order to truly be able to reach the group that is difficult to reach. Yes, it will cost. And in the best of worlds, it would have cost less. But it is important for the government that the money goes into the right pockets, to the right people and to the right operations and does not land in the wrong place. To ensure that, we will not rush through a reform that is not well-thought-out, that is not prepared and that is not anchored, but it will take time. But in that way, we also ensure the quality, and we ensure that things go where they are supposed to.

But besides that, despite this investment which the Social Democrats call expensive, we do five, six or seven things more. I do not call that impoverishing sports. I call that investing in sports.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Madam Speaker! I truly hope that we will not have a scenario where children and young people who are now actually seeking out sports will not knock and be referred to stand in a queue because the facility issues have not been dealt with and because it has not been ensured that the associations and the sports movement can recruit and train new leaders who can receive children and young people. I truly hope that it does not become so, but everything points in that direction. For the initiatives that the member refers to and which the government has now made are a drop in the ocean to be able to meet the problems that exist.

These 700 million could have been the start of an infrastructure fund that could address the problems we see all around our country. It would have meant that we would have had more hours in the sports halls, so that the door could have been opened for more children and young people to step in and practice their sport. The sports movement could have used these funds to recruit more leaders and have more time to do so.

I have not even mentioned what administrative burden this reform will entail for each individual association. The administrative burden will take time away from the voluntary forces who are actually supposed to be out there receiving new children and young people.

No, I must unfortunately say that I believe you have started on the wrong foot. Instead of addressing the problems that exist, you have a prestige reform that you want to show off and that you believe will be the solution to all problems. Unfortunately, it will not be.

But we will stand here the day that you are ready to abandon this reform and make the real investments that are needed to strengthen the sports movement and get more children and young people moving.

(Applause)

In this speech, Lawen Redar (S) agreed.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Robert Hannah (L)

Madam Speaker! The system-threatening crime that our country is now experiencing has brutal consequences for the crime victims, for people's safety and integrity in vulnerable areas and, in the long run, for our entire free and open society. People with violence capital shall not be allowed to intimidate honest citizens into silence. The gangs, with their total ruthlessness—including murders at sports venues recently—will not stop until we have stopped them.

Sports often constitute the community that prevents young people from being lured into criminal gangs in our vulnerable areas. That is the reason why the government, in addition to the approximately 2 billion that go annually to the sports movement in Sweden, also invests 100 million annually on sports for children and young people in vulnerable areas. It is a percentage increase that cannot be compared with the previous government's.

Last week, the Culture Committee visited Skåne. There, we, among other things, met the football club FC Rosengård, which is Sweden's most successful women's football club. FC Rosengård's coaches and volunteers are some of the thousands of everyday heroes in Sweden who give children and young people a meaningful everyday life and a sense of hope for the future.

Today, on average, 40 percent of young people in Sweden are active in a sports club. In fact, it is more than ever right now. It is more than before the pandemic, so we have seen a rebound. 42 percent of the boys and 37 percent of the girls are active in a sports club. But in our vulnerable areas, it is significantly fewer, especially among girls. It is due, Madam Speaker, in my opinion, to the fact that we in Sweden, instead of financing sports clubs, have financed gambling clubs for adult men.

In my hometown of Gothenburg, only 8 percent of the girls in Bergsjön participate in sports, even though 24 percent of the boys participate in sports. It must nevertheless be said that the difference is very large. One cannot ignore that it may be honor norms and other norms regarding girls' opportunities to participate in sports that have a strong influence here.

It is falsely claimed by the opposition that the bourgeois government is not investing in preventive measures to combat exclusion. That is not true, and the visit to FC Rosengård was proof of that. Thanks to the government's investment of 100 million every year specifically for sports in vulnerable areas, FC Rosengård can now invest heavily and expand its activities for the youth in Rosengård. And thanks to the fact that this government requires that there must be equal investments, that as much must go to girls as to boys, that is exactly what is being done right now in the investments at FC Rosengård in Rosengård. Girls who have never played sports are being drawn into sports. You are getting in youth who have never played sports before.

Furthermore, the government's extensive investment in a leisure card, which is intended to provide an active and meaningful everyday life and leisure time for children and young people between 8 and 16 years old, will have a special effect in our vulnerable areas, because it will be socioeconomically weighted and go directly to the young people. 92 percent of the girls in Bergsjön do not play sports. They will all know that in the future they have a bag of money that they can use. Associations and others who want to invest in these areas will be able to recruit these girls into sports. Mothers and fathers will not be forced to choose between food on the table or the child participating in sports. That is the big difference with the leisure card. It goes to each individual and is socioeconomically targeted. And perhaps that is the difference between what a bourgeois government chooses to invest in and what a left-wing government chooses to invest in.

It is the difference between a left-wing government's general grants, which can be used for rugs in villas for children whose parents, like my own children, are academics, and a bourgeois government that invests money that primarily goes to youth who do not play sports today and who live in vulnerable areas.

Today, the government also decided that the sports movement shall receive 200 million this year until the system with leisure cards is up and running. The money will go to facilities, among other things, and, Madam Speaker, I actually believe that it is the first time, at least during my time in the Riksdag, that a government invests in facilities. It seems to be very much in demand by all parties in the Riksdag, so I hope that everyone feels a bit satisfied today.

The state should not and cannot do everything on its own. Civil society and the business sector are very important contributors and take social responsibility together to combat exclusion in Sweden. I want to give an example. The Swedish minor land law in athletics is a collaborative project between Svensk Friidrott and the IT company Atea. Together, they invest in leisure activities aimed at children in their first school years in sports-weak areas.

The initiative means that local athletics clubs, together with the initiator Ateas' local office, will start up mini-national teams that train together for about ten weeks during the spring and ten weeks during the autumn. All training is free of charge for those who wish to participate. Additionally, free membership in the club is included. It is these types of initiatives that a leisure card will be able to support in the future, but what the business sector is doing is also very important.

Madam Speaker! With the government's policy, we will in the long run get more young people to engage in sports and fewer young people who are lured into system-threatening crime.

With this, I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Runar Filper (SD)

Madam Speaker! Sport is a part of Sweden's heart and soul. It is where we meet, are inspired, and build community.

For the Sweden Democrats, sports is not just a leisure activity. It is an important part of our society, a powerful platform for health and national pride.

We believe in a sports policy that promotes equality and accessibility for everyone. Every individual, regardless of background or economic situation, should have the opportunity to participate and to enjoy the benefits of sports. We will prioritize investing in sports facilities and infrastructure that reach all parts of the country, so that no one is left without the opportunity to participate in their favorite sport or favorite physical activity.

Furthermore, we are determined to combat all forms of doping and match-fixing. We want to ensure a clean and fair sporting environment in Sweden, where our athletes can compete on equal terms and the fans can trust that the results are genuine.

One of our greatest public health problems today is the increasing sedentary lifestyle, especially among children and young people. Everyday exercise is decreasing and the natural relationships to movement, exercise, and spending time in nature are becoming fewer and fewer. To tackle this negative development, decisive action is required, and one step in that is to strengthen the position of outdoor life in society.

Madam Speaker! I am convinced that the potential of sports to promote health and well-being must not be underestimated. By encouraging physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits from a young age, we can contribute to reducing diseases and increasing the quality of life for all our citizens. With a strong and visionary sports policy, we can build a Sweden where every individual has the opportunity to achieve their full potential, whether it is on the sports arena or in life in general. Together, we can make sports a force for change and a source of pride for all Swedes.

Madam Speaker! The Sweden Democrats believe in an inclusive and respectful society, where everyone is given the opportunity to participate and flourish regardless of individual challenges or obstacles. An important part is a sporting life for all.

Sports for those who are not like everyone else and who face different obstacles than those who are fully healthy and without a disability exist within para-sports. For us, para-sports is not just a matter of competition and performance but a symbol of our will to bridge boundaries and stand up for human dignity in its broadest sense.

Parasport is a source of inspiration and pride for the entire nation. Through their perseverance, passion, and dedication, our parasport athletes show that nothing is impossible and that obstacles can be overcome with willpower and determination.

Parasport has recently increased in popularity in Sweden, and for good reasons. It is a fantastic opportunity for people with disabilities to participate in sport and exercise on equal terms as everyone else. Despite the fact that more and more associations in the country offer parasport, there are still many municipalities where it is not available.

That is why it is important that the Swedish Sports Confederation makes a greater effort to help and support associations that want to offer para-sport in these municipalities.

Everyone should have access to para-sport regardless of where they live in the country. It is a right for everyone to be able to participate in sport and exercise, and it is important that there are no barriers for persons with disabilities to participate in sport and exercise.

Madam Speaker! There are several regulations within the transport service act that create difficulties for para-athletes. Persons with disabilities who need special equipment for their sporting activities often encounter obstacles when traveling with transport services. For example, they cannot take their special wheelchair with them on the transport service, which can make it difficult to participate in training and competitions. Furthermore, some people may have a limited number of transport service trips at their disposal, which can make it difficult to get to sports facilities.

In order to enable para-sports for persons with disabilities, it is necessary to change some of the existing rules.

The government must review, among other things, the transport service act and other laws that affect para-athletes so that people with disabilities can bring their equipment and get to their training. By changing these laws, we can make it easier for people with disabilities to participate in sport and exercise on equal terms as everyone else.

By promoting awareness of para-sport and by supporting initiatives that promote inclusion and accessibility, we can build a society where everyone feels welcome and respected.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! Today, many inhabitants have a much more sedentary life than previous generations. It affects fitness and muscle strength and risks worsening health. A large movement survey showed that we spend an average of eight to ten hours a day sitting. Particularly frightening is that this measurement showed that five-year-old children in Sweden are sedentary for around nine hours a day.

For Vänsterpartiet, it is important that preschool continues to have a large focus on play, movement, and outdoor pedagogy to guarantee that all children get enough movement and can establish healthy habits at an early age. In our budget motion for 2024, we propose a state support of 250 million kronor per year to the municipalities to support the renovation and expansion of playgrounds, spontaneous sports areas, and park play.

A major contribution to increasing physical activity and sports is, of course, organized club life. In total, around 4.5 million in our country are members of an outdoor organization or a sports club. It is a very high proportion of the population and a tradition to be proud of.

The situation is therefore not entirely unambiguous. Sweden has a major problem with sedentary behavior at the same time as we have one of the populations in Europe that moves the most. There are obviously large differences between different groups. Some are members of many associations and move a lot, while others stand completely outside. As so often, class and gender play a role in how we live. Surveys of children's and young people's sports participation show that it is children of highly educated people who participate in sports the most.

From this, the Left Party concludes that a mixture of different political measures is required to create good conditions for good public health.

Madam Speaker! Let me begin with the importance of creating spaces for movement. Good urban planning by the municipalities is needed so that there is access to cycle paths, lit exercise tracks, swimming halls, sports halls, parks, and forests near the city so that it becomes easy to exercise in everyday life. Good public transport to both sports venues and nature areas is also needed, of course. We also want to increase the appropriations for maintaining hiking trails and other nature conservation that can increase accessibility to nature areas.

When it comes to the opportunities for sports, exercise, and outdoor life in forests and land, it is also important that our right of public access remains strong.

When the Swedish Sports Confederation conducted a survey of its members a few years ago, it turned out that a third of the associations providing children's and youth sports had a shortage of space, while a quarter of the total number of associations stated that they had difficulty obtaining premises for their activities. The problem existed in both small and large municipalities, and many associations reported that they could not accommodate all children who were interested in practicing sports due to the difficulty of obtaining more training times.

There were also many, up to half of the respondents, who described that there were large renovation needs in the premises they used. We also know from before that the accessibility for persons with disabilities and for parasport is poor in many sports facilities, so it is an important aspect in new construction or reconstruction.

Vänsterpartiet considers that increased resources for premises and also a national support function are needed to support the municipalities in the work of producing more sports areas.

Madam Speaker! Another important aspect to highlight is the economic accessibility of sports. It appears from the Centre for Sports Research's annual follow-up of the state's sports support that children with university-educated parents participate in sports to a greater extent than children of parents with only upper secondary education. Children of single parents participate in sports to a lesser extent than children of cohabiting parents, and girls with a foreign background participate the least of all. Far too many leave sports far too early. At the age of eleven, the most children participate in sports clubs. Then the membership curve drops sharply. The cost of participating in sports is one of the reasons why children and young people leave sports.

The Swedish Sports Confederation has also previously flagged that the finances look poor in many associations. Nine out of ten associations that own or operate facilities are worried about their finances. This concerns high electricity prices, interest rates, and rents. In the long run, this risks leading to higher fees so that the associations can manage their finances, which affects many families with children who already have a strongly pressured economic situation.

For Vänsterpartiet, it is important to level the economic gaps that create differences in access to a meaningful leisure time and ultimately lead to unequal health among children and young people. In our budget proposal, we therefore doubled the government's investment in sports in disadvantaged areas. I also believe that the announced leisure card is an initiative that, if properly implemented, could give more children a meaningful leisure activity. Vänsterpartiet has previously had a reform similar to this to offer children and young people free sports, but we have put that on hold pending the outcome of the reform with the leisure card.

I am, however, quite concerned by the new agency reports which show very high costs for the administration of the leisure card. We must follow up on this so that as many of the resources as possible go to the association life and the children and not to our agencies' IT systems.

The shortage of leaders within sports and outdoor life and teachers within cultural schools has also been mentioned regarding the ability to accommodate more children and young people. An important issue that we have raised and that other parties have submitted motions on is that one could have the same conditions for outdoor organizations as for sports clubs when it comes to the remuneration of leaders. Skatteverket has made somewhat different assessments here depending on what type of association it is. A more uniform regulatory framework would be needed here so that everyone gets the same conditions to recruit leaders.

To this is added the question of access to premises and training times, which I have already mentioned, which risks becoming a bottleneck in the introduction of the leisure card. Several debaters have already raised it, so I leave it there.

It was still a positive announcement from the government that a portion of the money that will not be able to be used for the leisure card this year will go to community life and cultural schools. However, it is not the entire pot. I think it would be interesting to hear where the rest of these millions will end up during the current year; the leisure card will not be in place until 2025.

When it comes to the outdoor life associations, the challenges are partly different. Fewer children today have an idea of what activities they can offer.

Outdoor days in school are no longer mandatory. It is noticeable that far fewer schools are organizing outdoor days. School is an important arena for reaching all children and young people with information, not least about what organized outdoor life could mean. It is about being able to join an association but also about being able to be in nature on your own and feeling comfortable with it. I think that this also is closely linked to the knowledge of the right of public access (allemansrätten).

It is very important to work with the goals of outdoor life policy regarding the school's activities. It is the only goal where there has been a step back regarding outdoor life policy. We have submitted a motion stating that we believe Skolverket should have a much clearer role and take responsibility for working with this.

Madam Speaker! Sport can create cohesion in different ways, such as in a club where one participates as an athlete or gets the chance to be involved as a board member or supporter. But it also applies to us who are spectators at a distance, regardless of whether it is at home in front of the TV or perhaps at a large screen in the park together with others; one becomes part of something larger. The national team's or the individual athlete's successes also become our successes.

Thanks to the great interest in sports in Sweden and the broad popular movement we have created around it, we can, despite having a small population, stand very well in international competition. It is fun to see. We have both well-organized grassroots sports and successful elite athletes.

I see that my speaking time is starting to run out, but I still want to raise a few proposals that we in Vänsterpartiet have put forward regarding investments in elite sports specifically.

Last year, there was a great deal of reporting on ill health among our elite athletes. It concerned physical injuries, which can create long-term problems, and also mental ill health, which can arise after a completed sports career. Many interviewed lamented that they had not received sufficient support from their sports federation when they felt unwell. It is very important that we take these stories seriously and that there is a support system. A preparedness was needed to support athletes when they end their careers.

We also think that it must be possible to prepare for dual careers already as a young athlete. It must be possible to combine elite sports with university studies to have something to fall back on. The Swedish Sports Confederation's initiatives together with a number of colleges and universities - sports universities and elite sports-friendly educational institutions, as they are called - are very important steps along the way but primarily concern education within the sports science field.

There are also scholarships awarded to athletes through Svenska Spel and Riksidrottsförbundet. This is also an important part of creating good conditions.

From the Left Party's side, however, we see that the missing piece concerns our security systems; they need to function better for those who are elite athletes. We have therefore now submitted a motion that the government needs to look at how we can ensure that we have both a pension system and a social insurance system that work for elite athletes. One also needs to review the CSN rules and the unemployment insurance, the "akassan", so that those systems can be adapted to the special conditions that elite athletes live under.

Now I believe I have included everything I needed to say, Madam Speaker. But I also need to move for approval of our reservation number 5.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anne-Li Sjölund (C)

Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by moving for approval of the Center Party's reservation number 13.

The voluntary commitment - people's desire to, together with others, create activities for the sake of the activities - is the greatest resource of sports and outdoor life.

Sports make society stick together. It is one of the country's largest popular movements. Sports clubs exist all over the country, and almost 150,000 children and young people go to practice every day. But there could be more. For despite the fact that there are fantastic leaders all around the country, there is a great shortage of leaders, as well as a shortage of space. Not being able to welcome new members is a loss for both the clubs and society at large.

Sports and outdoor life are not just fun. They are also important for inclusion, health, and community, and play a central role in strengthening cohesion and engagement at the local level, promoting integration, and creating a common space where people can meet regardless of background or socioeconomic differences. Therefore, a broad sports and outdoor life needs to be promoted throughout the country and become accessible to more people.

The Center Party is a liberal party that believes in local and private initiatives. Sports and outdoor life have great opportunities to contribute to political goals such as a living countryside, increased safety in socioeconomically vulnerable areas, reduced involuntary loneliness among the elderly, as well as better integration and public health - if it is allowed to happen on the terms of sports and outdoor life. The task of politics is to remove obstacles and clear the way for this developmental force.

Centerpartiet also considers that the state, regions, and municipalities should actively facilitate for the association life to operate more long-term through investments that favor equal and equitable public health. This can be done, for example, through idea-based public partnerships. A systematic work involving sports, the municipalities, and the authorities is needed to ensure a more equal coaching and leadership staff and equitable opportunities to practice sports both in the city and in the countryside. More also needs to be done so that grassroots and elite sports shall be safe arenas where no one is exposed to harassment, threats, or violence.

Many people with disabilities face obstacles when they try to participate in sports activities. Para-sport can be a way for them to be physically active, but it is not always easy to gain access to suitable sports opportunities. Different forms of support may be required, such as transport services, companions, special equipment, and skilled leaders within para-sport. Here we need to create knowledge and have more coordinated research for long-term and sustainable decisions. If we make the problems visible, we will find solutions more easily, as the chairperson of para-sport, Åsa Llinares Norlin, often says.

Madam Speaker! Elite athletes play an important role as role models to motivate children, young people, and adults to start training or participate in organized sports themselves and to motivate for voluntary efforts in sports clubs. The conditions for elite sports and the collective resource allocation need to be reviewed and improved in step with changes in the world around us. Politics at the national level need to take responsibility for solving elite sports' issues regarding such as parental leave, sick leave, and insurance.

Sweden has an important role to play in the fight against doping in sports. The efforts carried out within sports with government support are of importance both for public health and for upholding the World Anti-Doping Code. The Government should take the initiative for a strategy so that more authorities and civil society actors can contribute to strengthening and further developing anti-doping efforts, both in and outside Sweden.

Madam Speaker! Equality in sports is a struggle that must be fought with perseverance and determination. We strive for a world where every female athlete has the same opportunities and receives the same recognition as every male athlete. By building a platform of equality within sports, we do not only create justice but also inspire future generations of young girls to take their place and take the lead.

Earlier this year, as a representative of the Cultural Affairs Committee, I traveled to Brussels for a committee meeting organized by FEMM, the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

One of those invited was Pia Sundhage. She was born in a time when it was anything but obvious for girls to play football. If you love football above all else, you find a way, said Pia. Pia was lucky, with good adults around her. The coach called her Pelle, and she got to play with the boys.

Pia has achieved great success in a male world, and she is a truly great role model. At the same time, it has been a constant struggle for equal and fair conditions. Creating good and fair conditions from the very beginning, when girls and boys start practicing sports, should be a matter of course.

Madam Speaker! Then we have outdoor life. Spending time outdoors and exploring nature can be a fantastic experience, where more people can discover the joy of movement in nature, without requirements for performance or comparisons with others. It can help us to relax and reduce stress. Therefore, it is important to ensure that outdoor life is accessible to everyone.

Physical activity and nature experiences are important both for people to feel good here and now and to avoid costs and suffering in the future. It can be about better access to local spontaneous sports areas, outdoor gyms and sports venues or new trails, running tracks and ski tracks in a nature area.

It is also about issues such as lighting and safe paths to these places, which is important, not least from an equality perspective. Therefore, the conditions for civil society to contribute long-term to initiatives that benefit outdoor life and public health throughout the country should be mapped out.

Not least sports and outdoor associations in rural areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas need space and conditions to be a node and meeting place for, among other things, children, young people, newcomers and the elderly. The Government should review how outdoor life can be given long-term stable framework conditions.

Sports and outdoor life

Sports events, both national and international, are very important for Swedish sports. They do not only make sports stronger and more fun, but they are also a meeting place where people become engaged and community is promoted. This can increase the interest in practicing sports and is positive for the tourism industry, and it creates jobs and economic growth. The competition to host these championships is great. Here, a long-term strategy would be needed to attract more sports events to Sweden.

Sport and outdoor life

As I began: People's desire to, together with others, create activities for the sake of the activities is the greatest resource of sports and outdoor life.

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 24 April.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)