During the night to Friday, an explosion occurred in an apartment building on Tegnérsgatan in central Gothenburg. The bombing is believed to be linked to an escalating conflict between gang criminals and a player agency. A player from IFK Göteborg lives in the building but has now been relocated to another address by the club.
According to Göteborgs-Posten, the police’s main theory is that the attack is part of a years-long “agent conflict” involving millions of kronor. The implicated agency, previously linked to the firm Universal, represents not only the IFK player but also players in other Allsvenskan clubs and Swedish national teams.
Schibsted-owned newspaper Aftonbladet reports that the incident has now prompted a reaction from the Swedish football community, and an anonymous Allsvenskan security chief also admits to having been in contact with the police on the matter for some months.
Stefan Dejemyr, head of security at the Swedish Football Association, emphasizes that risk assessments for serious crime are routine, but admits that the scale of recent events has come as a surprise.
– We have been aware of this for some time. It’s part of the risk assessments around our players. But the recent events were more than I knew anything about in detail, says Stefan Dejemyr.
Uppgifter: IFK Göteborg flyttar spelare efter explosionhttps://t.co/mP96TTtVar
— FotbollDirekt.se (@FotbollDirekt) March 15, 2025
IFK protects the player
IFK Göteborg acted quickly to protect the player, who is reportedly unharmed. The club’s head of security Jonas Arlmark declined to comment, but the move of the player shows that the club is taking the situation seriously.
Previous attacks have targeted agents linked to the same conflict, and Fotbollskanalen reports that gang criminals believe they are entitled to millions from the agency business.
The incident underlines how gang crime in Sweden is increasingly infiltrating sport. Residents in the area describe the blast as powerful, and the police are investigating it as serious criminal damage.
With national team competitions around the corner and several clubs involved, there is growing concern about further violence.