Response to interpellation 2025/26:394 on combating organized crime linked to the football economy
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M argues that the state has a great responsibility to combat the criminal economy's infiltration into sports 1. 2 M emphasizes that the Police Authority has received a reporting requirement to report on the impact of crime on football 2. 3 M wants to ensure high precision in the police's work through dialogue with sports actors 3. 1 M is willing to consider proposals from S regarding the regulation of the industry 1. 4 S argues that the state must help sports through a licensing system to handle large monetary transactions 4. 4 S emphasizes the importance of using tools against gang crime against the right targets so as not to alienate supporters 4. 3 M thinks that more time should be spent on organized crime and the criminal economy 3. 3 M wants to focus on opportunities to share information from camera surveillance to work with precision against specific individuals 3. 5 M wants to stick to the exclusion strategy to avoid collective punishment 5. 5 M sees it as positive to discuss tools with high precision, such as preventive stay bans, to reach individuals who undermine safety around sports 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! Lars Isacsson has asked a long series of questions to Minister Jakob Forssmed, but unfortunately, he will have to settle for me. That will also do.
The questions that have been asked to Forssmed are what concrete measures he intends to take to counter organized crime linked to agency activities and player transfers within Swedish football and whether he intends to take initiative for increased transparency regarding agent fees and financial flows in connection with player transfers. Lars Isacsson has also asked the minister how he intends to ensure that measures linked to order and security in the stands are designed with good precision and in dialogue with relevant actors.
The interpellation has, as mentioned, been handed over to me.
As one of Sweden's largest and most important popular movements, the sports movement makes great contributions that promote community and inclusion. At the same time, the Swedish Police Authority warns that organized crime is gaining ground within sports, particularly within football.
Already today, the Swedish Football Association sets requirements based on international regulations on the activities of football agents. At the same time, elite football is investigating a possible common system for elite clubs regarding increased economic transparency in player sales and in agent contacts.
In December last year, the government gave the Swedish Police Authority a reporting requirement to provide a situational overview of the impact of organized crime on sports, particularly football, and the authority's work to counter such impact. The report shall, among other things, cover the situation with and the work to counter match-fixing, crime within agency activities, and that organized crime exploits voluntary sports clubs for criminal activities. The Swedish Police Authority shall also report on how they cooperate with the sports movement to combat this crime.
Parts of the sports movement have been identified at the EU level as being exposed to specific risks for money laundering. From the summer of 2029, professional football clubs and football agents will therefore be covered by the EU's anti-money laundering regulations and be under supervision. The supervisory authority shall, among other things, take measures to ensure that persons convicted of certain crimes do not carry out agency activities.
It is the organizer of a football match who is responsible for ensuring that there is good order. In that work, the Swedish Police Authority is also in dialogue with organizers and other actors surrounding football. The Government has on a number of occasions invited representatives from football, the supporter movement, the Swedish Police Authority, and other central actors to discuss responsibility, cooperation, and measures to ensure safety and security at football matches.
Even though the development has been positive, it is important that the dialogue between the actors in football and the continuous security work continues. The latest meeting between the government and representatives for football took place on January 30 this year, and at that meeting, issues regarding criminal influence and infiltration were discussed in particular.
In April last year, the Inquiry for Safer Sports Events submitted its report. The inquiry proposes, among other things, a stricter view on violations of the prohibitions in the Public Order Act, amendments to the Act on Entry Bans at Sports Events, and a new law on sports organizations' processing of personal data. The report has been referred for consultation, and the proposals are currently being prepared in the Government Offices.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that the government, of course, takes the problems with organized crime linked to agent activities and player transfers seriously. For my part, I am following the issue closely, and I know that Jakob Forssmed is doing the same. We do not rule out that more measures may become relevant. The same applies to issues regarding order and security in the stands, where a close dialogue with football's actors is necessary to ensure and strengthen the continuous security work – all so that no one has to feel concern for their own or others' safety in connection with a football match or any other sporting event.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Justice, for the answer! I also thank the Minister for Justice for taking the debate. That was my intention from the beginning.
I believe there is a great possibility that we can find some form of consensus, especially regarding the first question.
Swedish football is our largest popular movement. It brings people together, builds community and creates pride throughout the entire country. But we must also dare to talk about what threatens it. I want to start with a part of reality. An informed journalist in the publication Fotboll Sthlm describes the situation as follows: ”Large amounts of violence and extensive criminal records move freely at training facilities. The supporters' money ends up partially in criminals' pockets. Children and young people end up in positions of dependency near organized crime. – – – Match-fixing, gangster agents, gangster clubs. The situation is nothing less than acute.” This was written three weeks ago.
Mr. Speaker! It is about match-fixing, unregulated agency activity, and financial flows where criminal actors seek influence. We have seen manipulated matches. There is chat material where results are discussed in advance. There are sentences for serious economic crime linked to club environments. We have also seen that an investigation into match-fixing was dropped despite extensive material. These are not isolated incidents, but they are structures.
The former police officer Fredrik Gårdare, who is very knowledgeable in these matters, identifies networks such as the Södertäljenätverket, Foxtrot, and the Ali Khan-nätverket as actors in this environment. In that case, we are not talking about public order problems, but about serious organized crime.
At the same time, the regulatory framework surrounding agent activities has been weakened. Today, we have a market with large sums of money, little transparency, and unclear responsibility. Representatives for clubs describe the situation as a wild west, an environment where unserious actors can gain entry.
Mr. Speaker! There are initiatives within football. Clubs are trying to create order. Supporters are driving issues regarding increased transparency. That is good, but I do not believe it is enough. This is fundamentally not a sports issue. It is economic crime, and there the state has a responsibility.
In the minister's answer, the government refers to processes, dialogues and upcoming EU regulations, and that is important but lies several years ahead. The year 2029 is a long way off. In the meantime, the criminals act here and now.
If we are serious about combating organized crime, we must go where the money is. That is why we Social Democrats have developed a package to regulate this industry.
Mr. Speaker! My question to the Minister of Justice is whether the Minister considers it reasonable that a billion-dollar business with clear risks of organized crime is not, but to such a large extent, left to associations and federations to manage.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Lars Isacsson, for the opportunity to once again discuss these important issues, which I know Lars Isacsson has a great commitment to and great knowledge of!
To begin with, I want to emphasize that it is clear that the sports movement and individual associations should not be left alone in the work of combating organized crime – on the contrary. All crime is a matter for the state and the state's various actors. This applies in particular to the fight against the criminal economy. It is quite right as Lars Isacsson points out that when it comes to organized crime, it is to a very high degree about precisely the criminal economy and its infiltration into football but also some other sports. There is therefore no doubt whatsoever that the state has a very large responsibility. Then, of course, one can take that responsibility in different ways.
An important point, of course, is that our law enforcement agencies have truly put these issues on their radar and are fighting this with full force and with all the tools that those agencies have and, not least, have received in recent years when it comes to combating criminal economy. This, I think, is the first thing to say. I mentioned, for example, the reporting assignment that we have submitted to the Swedish Police Authority regarding just this problem; it is an expression of this. The government also emphasizes, in its management of the law enforcement agencies, the importance of the state, with its entire systemic power, also tackling this part of the criminal economy.
The second thing is, of course, that one can absolutely consider whether the state needs to do more as well regarding legislation and other matters – I would gladly look at the proposals that the Socialdemokraterna have developed. I mentioned 2029, but that concerned a very specific matter, namely the EU's anti-money laundering network. Otherwise, we of course decide ourselves on both what legislation we might want to change and the timeline for this. I believe, just like Lars Isacsson, that it will require much, much earlier interventions if we are to succeed in breaking this development.
I finally want to mention something that I think is important, namely that in this work there must be a continued very close dialogue with the sports movement – not to push away the responsibility but possibly to be able to talk about what is a reasonable division of labor. Fundamentally, however, it is about having a common plan, because that is when we get real systemic power. When the state and our authorities on one hand can interact with the sports movement and not least the football clubs on the other, we can get the power required to push back the criminals from sports and football.
As was said: We are considering further measures on an ongoing basis. I would gladly be informed of the concrete proposals that Lars Isacsson has described.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer for the answer!
I agree with the Minister that it is not about taking away self-regulation from the sport, but I believe that the state must be involved and help out. I believe we would benefit from looking at this industry, with such large monetary transactions, roughly as we look at the brokerage industry or the car industry, where large transactions occur. We do not need to reinvent the wheel. We have the Tax Agency and the financial police, and one can have a licensing system. I do not think it needs to be so difficult. I believe we should be able to reach an agreement on this and help the sport.
Last weekend, 130,000 people attended matches during the opening weekend of Allsvenskan. It was world-class atmosphere, created by supporters who have put in thousands of hours of voluntary work. This is also a reality in Swedish football that we must start from, and in that reality, there is also something important. Those who have been most proactive in demanding transparency, highlighting the problems surrounding the agent market, and trying to shut out serious organized crime from Swedish football are, in many ways, the same committed supporters who stand on the short sides. They have pushed through motions at annual meetings in almost all major Swedish clubs.
I have been here, Mr. Speaker, and voted through all the sharpened tools against gang crime. I will vote for harsher sentences and double sentences for gang criminals. But what I, and I believe many with me, envisioned then were criminal networks such as Foxtrot, the Södertäljen network, and the Ali Khan network – not football supporters in the form of ultra groups. When classifications become too broad, we risk losing legitimacy, and we risk losing what actually works: the dialogue and cooperation between police, clubs, and supporters, where Sweden is best in Europe.
A review from Enable Sverige shows that police region West's classification of supporter groups as gang criminals is based on an EU model with seven criteria. But in the concrete application, barely half of the criteria are met. This raises questions about accuracy, proportionality, and legal certainty.
Mr. Speaker! The real problems are in the economy, in the agency structures, and in organized crime. We cannot risk alienating large parts of the football public. We need the broad majority with us against organized crime. We must be able to clearly say what is what. Organized crime must be met with full force, but the tools must be used against the right targets.
My question to the Minister for Justice is therefore: How does the government intend to ensure that the police's work against crime in connection with sports is carried out with sufficient accuracy and legal certainty?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! I am happy to answer the last question straight out. This is done by us, as mentioned, having submitted a reporting requirement to the Swedish Police Authority, which is our way of directing the Swedish Police Authority's attention toward this problem. This naturally includes a demand or an expectation of a high level of activity in relation to the criminal economy also in the field of sports, not least football, and an opportunity to receive data from the Swedish Police Authority, both in an ongoing dialogue and more systematically reported when it comes to this work. There, of course, a very important thing for us is to constantly demand data that makes it credible that the crime-fighting being carried out has high precision and achieves the intended effect and does not hit, as Lars Isacsson expressed it, the wrong targets or the wrong actors.
The second is a continuous dialogue with various actors within sports, civil society, football, football's supporter clubs and others. This is a way for us to constantly calibrate our governance and our demand in relation to the police with the perception that exists out in civil society and out in the everyday life of football seen from the perspectives of supporters, clubs, and organizers.
Regarding region Väst, I cannot go into any details. I am undeniably aware of the underlying problem – I believe most people are. I believe many have seen, for example, film footage regarding IFK Göteborg and what the former club director Håkan Mild was subjected to. It is clear that the serious situation justifies powerful measures.
As said: In my role, of course, I will follow up with questions regarding accuracy and effects, and I am continuously listening to other actors, not least sports, sports' civil society and supporters, in order to obtain a good basis and fuel for such a follow-up.
I think it is right – and Lars Isacsson has also requested it several times – that we should devote more time to the issue of organized crime and criminal economy. Regarding supporters, one might have a greater sensitivity when it comes to other types of security issues, which have been very much in focus previously. We have had an investigation aimed at the latter, and regarding certain issues, there is broad support to do something while other issues are more debated.
We have therefore now said that processes are ongoing in the Government Offices regarding the whole. But above all, we have focused on the issues where we see that there is a broad consensus. This concerns, among other things, opportunities to access information from camera surveillance and other sources and to share material between organizers, clubs, and other actors so that they can work together with precision against the individuals or groupings that cause trouble – at the minimum possible cost for everyone else, who are only there for the sake of sports and, of course, contribute to all the wonderful things that sports entail.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister of Justice, for the debate! I want to emphasize that I in no way stand behind criminal acts or threats. I believe in the strategy that we have had in Sweden for a long time, namely the exclusion strategy and that which the Minister refers to regarding the Hübinette investigation. There is great consensus on that. It is about better opportunities for information sharing, cameras and such. Those who commit crimes shall be punished.
I understand that there are criminal individuals among the 130,000 who went to the football match, but I find the broad classifications, where large groups feel singled out as gang criminals, difficult. I believe it is a dangerous development. I see it on social media and in the tensions between the police and the supporters. That is also why I am raising this issue.
I am passionate about Swedish football and Allsvenskan. I feel a responsibility as a politician: We must be mature and try to lower the level of conflict.
It was a net premiere this weekend with over 130,000 people and world-class tifos, created by supporters who have put in thousands of hours voluntarily. We cannot have such sweeping descriptions that many people feel singled out as gang criminals. We know that organized crime is trying to enter the football economy, and it is this power that must be targeted.
I have a concrete plea to the Minister – and now we are talking about this with dialogue – namely that it would be a good step to now appoint a national coordinator who, on the government's mandate, handles the dialogue between clubs, supporters, and the police in order to lower the level of conflict. It is about continuing the development that we have had with halved public order disturbances and a world-class supporter culture. All possibilities exist.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Lars Isacsson, once again, for giving us the opportunity to discuss these pressing issues today!
Let me first agree on the importance of sticking to the basic principle that the exclusion strategy entails. We do not want an order that is based on some kind of collective punishment. There was a discussion earlier about what the strategy actually was, but now it is at least clear that it is exclusion that applies. It is about achieving increased precision in the interventions. In that case, it is clear that both the legislation and the actions of the authorities, the police, must be in line with this and back up that strategy. On that, we are in complete agreement.
I know that at the police in Western Sweden, and surely in other places as well, there has been discussion about whether the new tool, preventive stay bans, could also be used in this environment. Now, this is not a matter for the government but for the law enforcement authorities, but let me still go into it and link it to the idea of exclusion. It is a tool that has enormous precision, because it is directed at specific individuals. This is a type of slightly more innovative thinking regarding different tools intended for a gang criminal environment but perhaps initially can also be used to tackle other kinds of problems. I am thinking of, for example, open drug scenes or groups that engage in robberies or maintain the recruitment of children in vulnerable areas. These tools can therefore perhaps also be used to precisely target individuals who undermine the safety and security around sports. But it is a police matter. For me, it is at least positive that it is being discussed in that way.
In conclusion, I want to agree on the importance of not alienating broad supporter groups. Of course, all responsible and good forces must be on board. I think it is important that there should be good coordination of this. The forms for this, we can discuss further.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.