On Monday we covered reports from Sweden that police had been called in by the country’s football authorities after abuse and threats had been sent to Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof and RB Leipzig attacker Emil Forsberg.
Lindelof had asked not to be picked for the Sweden squad due to personal reasons, which made sense given his wife was expecting the couple’s first child.
However, a rumour, later denied, was pushed in Sweden that another reason was the defender’s annoyance over friend John Guidetti not being in the squad.
After the weekend match against Romania, Emil Forsberg left the Swedish squad, and it was claimed in the country that he’d done so after being angry at being taken off in the second half.
That was also denied, with the official line being that Forsberg is injured.
All the gossip encouraged the abuse, so some in the Swedish media, as well as a minority of idiotic fans, have played a part in this.
Lindelof and his wife became parents on Sunday morning, further underlining why it was a good reason not to travel.
Now, the Manchester United player has spoken out. In a chat with Viasat, via Aftonbladet, he said: “What I cannot understand is how people cannot respect what is a personal reason. For me, it’s completely sick.
“We football players are not people, we are to share everything that happens in our lives. So that’s it. It’s our everyday life, but I think it’s totally absurd.
“I have not followed it so much but focused on what has been important to me and that is Maja.”
It’s not really the type of interaction a footballer expects when he’s about to become a father.
