A high-level Swedish football referee has been convicted of sexual harassment. Unlike with youth coaches and agents, the Swedish Football Association does not check whether referees or other leaders are criminally charged. “We will take a closer look at this case”, says SvFF's General Counsel Anders Hübinette. The man in question referees at a high level in the Swedish championship and has also had international assignments. At the end of 2019, he was sentenced to a 100-day fine of SEK 230 for sexually harassing two women. One woman is also awarded damages of SEK 6,000. In both cases, the man exposed himself to the women, in one incident at a school for older young people and in the other case in a stairwell in the same area. The district court writes in the judgment that the man was convicted a year earlier for a similar crime and therefore "the daily fine shall be increased compared to what is the normal practice for exposure". The district court case against the football referee is not be known to the Swedish Football Association. “I cannot remember hearing anything about it before”, says SvFF's General Counsel Anders Hübinette to Sportbladet. “We will look at this. We need to find out what kind of crime it is about and how it affects the person's ability to represent Swedish football.” From 1 January 2020, the Swedish Sports Confederation mandates that all clubs request register extracts for all leaders who have continuous contact with children. In addition to this requirement for youth leaders, which the clubs must control, SvFF also requests similar extracts from the people who want to become registered or certified agents. They should have an "impeccable reputation" and not be convicted of economic, sexual or violent crime. Should there be a similar requirement or at least some explicit rule for others in football for this type of crime? “We have to think about that. It's a difficult discussion. It has even been investigated whether it could be forbidden for employers to demand it from people who do not work directly with children and young people, for example. It is a difficult balancing act. I do not think you require a register extract when you hire journalists at Aftonbladet”, says Anders Hübinette. We have this requirement for the children and youth coaches and among the mediators because there was consistent information from the police that criminal elements approached that market. But we take this type of event seriously and will investigate it more closely to see if the person is a suitable representative of Swedish football”, says Hübinette. Sportbladet has sought comments from the referee, but the request was not answered.
Source: Sportbladet
