A game in Sweden’s third tier has become a hot topic of discussion after three own-goals were scored during the controversial fixture.
AFC Eskilstuna secured all three points on Sunday as goals from Aleksander Azizovic, Felix Bennarp [OG], Eric Bjornson, Henry Maja and Ludvig Ugglas [OG] sealed a quite remarkable 5-4 win over IFK Stocksund.
Melke Alan’s side, who sit 12th in the league table, went three goals ahead after just 16 minutes at the Tunavallen. Stocksund pulled one back just before the half hour mark through Simon Miedinger.
But after Henry Maja extended Eskilstuna’s three goal lead, it was an own goal from Stocksund to make it 5-1 that got people talking.
As you can see in the footage below, a Stocksund player kicked a rolling ball into his own goal from close range.
The incident has sparked controversy in Sweden and beyond.
Johan Claesson, who is the integrity officer at the Swedish Football Association, announced on Monday that the SFA will take a closer look at the own goal.
“We have a fairly accepted process for our work,” Claesson told Expressen. “One such thing that makes us start looking more closely at things is deviating performances on the field. But that in itself is never proof that we can draw it as possible match-fixing.
“But we are in the process of our procedure which we usually have linked to match images that stand out in one way or another.”
IFK Stocksund head coach and sporting director Adam Gursoy, meanwhile, is confident that there were no irregularities during the game against AFC Eskilstuna.
Speaking to Fotbollskanalen, he said: “From our side, we are safe. We have the perspective from our business and from the inside, as well as keeping an eye on our players. Then a proper job must always be done, while all routines must be followed. It is the confederation that leads it.
“Our indications are that there should be nothing strange involved. There are unfortunate situations and actions in a football match. I personally feel very safe with it. We have not received any further information or anything from the association that indicates otherwise.”
Gursoy also responded to allegations of match-fixing from people on social media.
“It is clear that it is easy for things to be stirred up,” he said. “Most people have probably only seen the isolated incident. Although I would like to, I don’t think most people have seen 90 minutes of the game. They have seen the incident on X or other social media. Then it is clear that it is easy to have a jargon and throw around that it must be match-fixing.”