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Swedish soccer players and coaches will not be required to test Covid-19 before training sessions or matches as part of the country’s proposed return-to-play protocol during the pandemic.
Instead, they will need to complete a self-assessment form each morning and email it to their club doctor no later than two hours before arriving for training or before arriving at the stadium for a match. The doctor will then assess whether the players and coaches are healthy enough to participate.
They should stay home if they have any symptoms.
It follows the general principle adopted in Swedish society that only people who “feel so sick that they should visit a hospital get a crown test on a large scale,” the Swedish league told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“So in line with that, we don’t have a chance to test our players.”
The protocols of return to the game for training and professional matches, which were published by the Swedish league on Tuesday, were submitted to the country’s Public Health Authority.
The authority is expected to decide this week whether the two main Swedish leagues can start next month. They hope to start playing games on June 14, more than two months after the initially scheduled start date.
Swedish society has not closed entirely during the virus outbreak because the government and health authorities have chosen not to impose as many restrictions as other countries.
That is reflected in their proposed return to play protocols in soccer, which differ from other leagues in Europe.
Just across the border with Denmark, for example, players and certain staff members will self-examine before training sessions, then enter a “trial regime” before league games or friendlies against other clubs, Danish Super League chief executive Claus Thomsen told the AP.
Each player will be evaluated once before games and probably weekly, or more, after that.
“It is not a small expense for clubs the size of the Danish league,” Thomsen said. “But it is an expense we will bear.”
The Danish league plans to resume on May 28.
In Germany, where soccer will resume this weekend, players and staff from Germany’s top two men’s leagues had to undergo two rounds of testing before resuming full team training last week. They will also require regular testing before each game.
It is estimated that it will require a minimum of 20,000 tests to finish the season.
In England, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said on Monday that tests scheduled to be used by players were developed by the sister company of the one used by the Bundesliga.
