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| Europe | ||
| Sweden: National football squad must pick a woman for Euro 2008 | ||
| 2008-04-01 | ||
| Sweden's hopes of footballing victory at Euro 2008 have been dealt a blow with the news that coach Lars Lagerbäck may be forced to include a female player in his squad. The country's Ombudsman for Equality in Sport has threatened to take the Swedish Football Association and Lagerbäck to court if they "continue to ignore clear anti-discrimination rules".
Grönberg, whose department falls under the remit of Minister for Culture and Sport, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, said she would use "all the powers at her disposal" to push through the recommendation. "This will send out all the right messages. Football is extremely popular among girls in Sweden and it is only right that they should be represented," she said. Ultimately, individuals found guilty of discrimination could be barred from competing in professional sport in Sweden. A source close to the Swedish national squad told The Local that Lagerbäck will fight the move up until the last possible moment. "Lars won't like this one bit. Plans for the squad are more or less complete and barring injuries he already knows who he'll be taking to Austria and Switzerland." Sweden has a relatively successful women's team and if Lagerbäck is forced to name a woman in the 23-person squad then he will have plenty of international experience to call upon. Hanna Ljungberg, 29, is the top scorer in Swedish footballing history with 72 goals from 129 caps - putting the record of her namesake, Freddie, to shame. The West Ham United player has only managed 14 goals from his 70 caps. Another candidate is Ljungberg's fellow attacker, Victoria Svensson, who has scored 61 goals from 143 caps. Alternatively, Lagerbäck could opt for a defender, which would almost certainly mean that 29-year-old Hannah Westberg, with her 122 caps, joins the squad. But even Gudrun Grönberg acknowledged that the player selected would probably not have much of an opportunity to prove her ability against the best male players in Europe. "I accept that the player may not get a full match. But it would send shockwaves around the sporting world if Sweden brought on a woman for, say, the last ten minutes of a game," said Grönberg. "As long as we were already a couple of goals up and coasting," she added.
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| Posted by:mrp |
| #7 Could be fun to watch .... |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-04-01 19:13 |
| #6 "Where have all the humans gone?" Close Silentbrick, try, "Where have all the "Intelligent" Humans gone, a lot closer. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-04-01 16:34 |
| #5 Harrison Bergeron, call your office. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2008-04-01 13:16 |
| #4 He should pick an all female team. It would get LOADS of publicity and come last by a long way. Be a great way to destroy this stupid equal outcome nonsense that's endangering equal opportunity. I'm sorry but the Women's FA cup was on telly and I decided after watching it that Women and good football are (at the moment) an oxymoron. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2008-04-01 12:07 |
| #3 I think its extremely sexist to have a token woman on the team. I think they should go all the way and require that half the team be female. And that assumption that women would only play "if they are already up a couple of goals and coasting" is insulting. Half the players on the field should be women also. As an added benefit, we can find out if soccer can be even more boring than it already is. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-04-01 12:04 |
| #2 What the coach should do is sue to have men on the women's teams. Or do what alot of US colleges did. Kill your sports programs altogether. Some days I really have to wonder: "Where have all the humans gone?" |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2008-04-01 11:13 |
| #1 I hope she has her team burqa fitted properly. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-04-01 10:15 |