Neck
The soccer club Nacka FC was recently ordered to pay 25,000 kroner in fines for having recruited a large number of eight-year-olds from Älta IF.
It was last autumn that suddenly about 15 children left Älta IF to go to Nacka FC. This led to Älta IF reporting Nacka FC to the Stockholm Football Association for breaching the recruitment rules, which the association agreed with.
Prohibited to influence young people under 14 years of age
The association decided to fine Nacka FC and it is the first time an association has been sentenced to the maximum penalty for recruiting children.
– It involved so many children, at such a young age, that the association thought it was justified, says Björn Eriksson, head of competition at the Stockholm Football Association.
Björn Eriksson, competition manager at the Stockholm Football Association.
Stockholm Football Association
Changing clubs is not prohibited, but then it must be done of one’s own free will, without influence from any other association or leader, he adds. The rule applies to children and young people under the age of 14.
Nacka FC appealed the decision, because they thought the amount of the fine was too high, and were right, so in December it was reduced to SEK 12,500.
Had the club advertised openly that they were looking for players, it would have been okay, but emailing a specific group of parents is prohibited, according to Björn Eriksson.
It turned out that some parents, also leaders, whose children played in both Älta IF and Nacka FC had joined forces and started a new team in Nacka FC. Their email went out to the guardians of around 50 8-year-olds.
The email states: “In order to create a suitably large group, we may need to make a selection from among those who register their interest.”
Regret the email
That children change clubs is in itself nothing strange, says Salih Shala, sports manager at Nacka FC, it happens all the time. But the way it was done here was, in retrospect, not good.
– It was wrong to email the guardian, it is considered solicitation. At the same time, I want to emphasize that the information that they planned to start a new team with us went out to everyone, so that everyone had the opportunity to choose.
Salih Shala, sporting director at Nacka FC.
Neck FC
Mattias Hedman, director of sports in Älta IF, says that the incident has stirred up emotions, especially in the affected age group, but also in the club as a whole.
– In recent years, we have lost parts of the team to Nacka FC when parent coaches got together and selected players at younger ages based on different selection criteria. In the case we notified, it was done openly with an email where various selection criteria were mentioned. This is a violation of the Swedish Football Association’s rules and very far from our core values. We wanted to show that it’s not okay.
That parent coaches selected child players based on different criteria is not correct, according to Salih Shala.
– All children and young people are welcome to Nacka FC, as long as we have field times and leaders to take care of them.
Trains a total of 1,650 children and young people
Nacka FC was founded in 2015 and has operations around Nacka municipality, including at Älta IP and Stavsborgs IP. They have 750 members, of which 650 are children and young people.
Älta IF football was founded in 1941 and has Älta IP as its home ground. They have 1,100 members, of which 1,000 are children and young people.
Source: The two associations
