When Kalmar FF was going to lunch, they were greeted by a swastika.
The only outsiders in the room before the Allsvenskan were the Swedish Democrats’ Women’s Union – which denies participating.
– Some players tore up the drawing, KFF coach Henrik Rydström said.
The barometer was first reported on the events that took place in Solna a few hours before Kalmar’s loss to Hammarby on Sunday. When the band entered a conference room at the Radisson Blu Royal Park Hotel for lunch, there was a large, colorful drawing of a heart, a cross, and two roses – and a swastika.
the coach Henrik Redström He was as surprised as sadness.
– I thought like “Is that what I think it is?”. The feeling became like shaking your head and thinking “Have we come this far in society?”. That these kinds of icons become a “clean space”? He says.
He denies any involvement
The day before, SD women had used the building to hold their federal convention. According to the Barometer, about 150 women participated in the educational weekend.
But the party has nothing to do with the swastika, claims Linda Lindbergh, chairwoman of the SD Women’s Party.
“We used the building for a short time on Saturday. Neither of us in our group had anything to do with the drawing and we strongly disagree with accusations of our involvement in it. When we left the building after our short stay, it was exactly as we found it.”
According to the hotel, the drawing was discovered on Sunday, which shows that we have absolutely nothing to do with this, because the building was already in use on Saturday evening by another party,” Lindbergh tells Barometern.
The room was not cleaned
But it’s not true that any other party was in the building this weekend, according to the hotel. Through their attorney Christian Ahlberg, they said there was no reservation between the SD women and Kalmar FF and that the room was closed the entire time.
– This is the information I received, Ahlberg says.
How do you know that there is no employee behind the drawing?
– You can’t rule it out, but it doesn’t go along with the work, which has a profile that goes hand in hand with drawing something that could be considered controversial.
Why didn’t the staff clean up the swastika before Kalmar FF got there?
– The information I received is that there was no planned change of conference on Sunday, which is why the building was not cleaned. Kalmar FF was put on the field because it was free. The employees who were inside the building did not notice the impulse because they only stayed in the building for a short time.
The hotel has apologized to the football club. They have been in contact with the women of SD to find out what happened.
Coach Henrik Rydström does not want to take a stand on the issue of guilt, but simply says that the story is sad.
For me, it becomes more of a symptom of a social climate. Previously, this type of symbol was out of the question. He says it’s important not to feel numb and allow it to normalize.
