ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK. The focus was on the referee group between Modu and Djurgården.
After responding to the criticism, Judge’s manager Bjorn Wettergren received threatening and insulting messages.
– It’s slowly breaking me down. He says the other side of what we do, that people take the right to go on like this is sad.
Modu won their first best-of-seven final with a score of 2-1 on Sunday night in Örnsköldsvik.
Subsequently, head coach Johan Garbenlöf and sporting director KJ Stöbel at Djurgården both criticized head referees Philipp Sandstedt and Christopher Volkstrand.
Djurgården had five disposals for two minutes in the match compared to Modo’s one.
After the match, referee manager Bjorn Wettergren received threats and insults via e-mail.
The security men are in charge
For Sportbladet, he talks about how the threat image has become part of his day job.
– There will be a lot of this. I try to be transparent and answer everyone who sends emails as long as it is in a good tone. What we do is very complicated, the hockey rule book is not always easy to understand. Sometimes we do the right thing, but I understand that there are points of view. Sometimes we make mistakes and know about it, and then I have no problem telling others about it or that something went wrong. Then there are the many who communicate with regret and are anything from ugly to menacing. It’s sad that it’s like that, says Hockeyallsvenskan’s chief referee, Bjorn Wettergren.
Do these threatening messages lead to police reports?
– All border cases are sent to the security department of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and they then make an assessment as to whether the matter should be monitored or not. I don’t know how many deads this season and this playoff had, but it was more than I wanted.
Guard in the yards
Has it gotten to the point that you have been approached or confronted in other ways?
– There are some yards where I had to bring a security guard with me to be able to move around, because there were people who wanted to get close to me. It’s sad that it has to be that way. I don’t want to make myself a martyr, I will take responsibility for what we are doing. People have the right to swear, then you need to be able to come to your senses and act like an adult. When Johan Alsen and Anton Rudin were approached at home at night, it was strange and disgusting. It was extreme, but there are a lot of people in hockey who have to put up with threats, hate, and humiliation in their daily lives.
Björn Wettergren points out that positive commitment should not be linked but should be distinguished from negative.
Fans who invest and live for their team obviously have a right to get angry when you think things aren’t going their way. Regardless of whether it was the referee who made a bad decision or whether it was the players who dropped the puck and that is a goal. You must have the right to participate. I still think we as a sports movement find it very easy to normalize hate and threats. It’s not something you have to put up with, says Bjorn Vettergren.
Worrying about emails
It has gone to the point where he feels bad about opening emails.
My job includes communicating with clubs, referees and others. I open emails as many times as I want each day because that’s where I work. It shouldn’t be associated with worrying about what you’ll find this time around. Unfortunately, that is what it is now. It’s not about Djurgården or Modo, all clubs have supporters. It doesn’t matter that 99% are very angry players who are just cheering for their team, says Bjorn Wittergren, they are not the ones being noticed, unfortunately.
The second match of the final series will take place in Örnsköldsvik on Tuesday night.
