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During Friday afternoon announced Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) that all municipal activities not deemed necessary should be closed immediately.
As an example, he mentioned sports facilities. The restrictions also apply to children’s sports.
Two days after the press conference, the Swedish Public Health Agency (FHM) has not updated its recommendations for indoor training. The Government Offices also do not mention anything about sports facilities in their written communication.
During the weekend, the 290 municipalities of the country had to analyze what the restrictions really mean, which was open to interpretations.
– The Prime Minister was asked about this at the press conference last Friday, and could not really answer. There was no clear message on how they had thought, nor will anything come out in writing, says Councilor for Sports Citizens Karin Ernlund (C) in Stockholm.
The Stockholm City Council decided on Saturday to close all activities for all ages in all sports facilities in the city, both indoors and outdoors.
Gothenburg also closes all sports facilities for children and young people, both indoors and outdoors. Malmö is also preparing a closure, the city office told TT. And the same applies to a large number of municipalities in the country.
Confusion in the sports movement
The unclear restrictions have caused much confusion among coaches and leaders of sports associations, according to Ernlund.
– The Swedish Public Health Agency continues to say that children and young people can exercise as usual, at the same time that the government says that we must close our activities.
The decision to shut down was made after a dialogue with the Stockholm Region infection control on Saturday.
– Then came clearer recommendations on how we should interpret the restrictions. That we stop organized sports activities because it contributes to the crowds, but also to travel within the region, says Ernlund.
Near Gothenburg and Malmö
As before, elite athletes should be exempted from the restrictions, was the prime minister’s message on Friday.
– It is difficult to distinguish elite operations based on broad operations. It can be at the individual level in individual associations who is at the elite level and who is not. Not least in individual sports such as martial arts and athletics, says Per-Erik Ebbeståhl, a management strategist at the Malmö city office.
The municipality of Malmö is now rapidly investigating the consequences of the closure of sports facilities for children and young people.
– Young people disappear in other places. They don’t necessarily stay home, says Ebbeståhl.
“Extremely spasmodic”
As recently as Monday, FHM introduced new national councils that opened the door for older children to exercise indoors, as long as the activities are carried out in a contagious way.
On Thursday, therefore, the municipality of Gothenburg opened the sports facilities for young people born before 2005.
– He became extremely spasmodic. So we had time to be open to all age groups for a day before this happened and we had to close everything down, says Elisabet Lann (KD), chair of the sports and associations committee in Gothenburg.
New message on Monday
The FHM press officer wrote in an email to TT on Sunday that new recommendations on sports facilities will be made on Monday.
“Anders Tegnell (state epidemiologist) welcomes the fact that tomorrow we make recommendations on sports facilities and that it is the local adaptation that is applied. This means that you have to adapt locally based on congestion risk assessments. “
But then, several municipalities have already decided a total closure.
– I do not know if you should interpret it as that the Public Health Agency works a bit confused and then the government does not believe that it is enough and takes it a little longer. Because there doesn’t seem to be any planning or foresight in this. There will be double signals and sharp shots, says Elisabet Lann.
KLIPP: Government: Close all state and regional sports halls (December 18, 2020)
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