Swedish referee Martin Strombergsson has been suspended after expressing his disdain for Östersund goalkeeper Aly Keita. SVT Sport has been in contact with Strömbergsson, who explains the event in an open letter. "I want to state that I had no mean or racist idea with my way of expressing myself," he writes.
Goalkeeper Aly Keita confessed that referee Martin Strömbergsson had said to him: "Go back to your goal so they can throw bananas at you" during a match against Gif Sundsvall last season. Strömbergsson has been suspended pending investigation. “It's unacceptable. You have to think about what you say”, referee Stefan Johannesson tells SVT Sport. Martin Strömbergsson, who is very remorseful, could not stand up for an interview because it would be far too emotional at the moment. He claims that the expression is a foolish one. “There is not a single gene in my body that has had any nasty or racist backing with what I expressed to Aly Keita a year ago. Instead, I have used a phony-like expression without considering the skin color, background or culture of the player. I immediately apologized during the match, followed up with a call in the change room after the final whistle, met Aly Keita in a match a few weeks later and once again followed up the incident and apologized for my crippled and unedited expression. It's so far from my personality and my values as you can get".
