A interrupted Stockholm derby between Hammarby and Djurgården on Sunday after thrown bangers and pyrotechnics. Several hundred lit Bengal lights and fired fireworks from both stands in the derby between IFK Göteborg and Gais at the end of September.
Two examples this autumn where firecrackers and pyrotechnics have been smuggled into Allsvenskan arenas and illegally used in the stands.
"Strong resistance"
It is the organizer's responsibility to search the audience before the match, but the police believe that it is inadequate on Swedish elite arenas.
There are far too few pyrotechnics and explosive goods being detected, says Mats Karlsson, who is the head of the intelligence unit at the police in Region South and often serves as the commanding officer at high-risk matches in southern Sweden.
Karlsson states that he reads all match reports in the men's Allsvenskan and believes that the level of searches is generally too low throughout the country.
It is primarily worrying from a terrorist perspective. If it is so easy to bring in a few hundred pyrotechnic goods, what else can you bring in? says Mats Karlsson
The police want the clubs to perform a more thorough search, but Karlsson says that the Swedish Elite Football (Sef) and the association are not on the same page.
We are far apart. There is strong resistance, they think it is intrusive.
Malmö prosecutor Henrik Nordquist, who has driven several high-profile prosecutions against football supporters recently, states that bangers and pyrotechnics are being smuggled in hidden in underwear.
There is a concept called "punga". You bring things in through the crotch, says Nordquist.
Sef: The police have approved
The men's elite clubs' interest organization Sef states that the search is being carried out according to the prevailing regulations.
According to football's regulations, we cannot search the entire body and intimate areas, says Johan Schollin, match delegate coordinator at Sef.
That stewards have undergone Sef's or the Swedish Sports Confederation's training – where it is gone through how a search should be carried out – is a requirement from the Police Authority's side when the terms are stipulated for arranging a match, notes Schollin.
So the police have somehow approved this type of search, one must assume, says Johan Schollin.
