17 October 2023 , 09:25
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Victor Lindelof has revealed that the Belgium players were "on board" with Sweden's desire to abandon their game after the shootings in Brussels.
The Swedes were in the Belgian capital for a Euro 2024 qualifier but earlier in the day two Swedish people had been shot dead in the city in what was a suspected terror attack, with a suspect since being shot dead by police. The Sweden players learned of the incident at half-time and wanted to the game called off.
They relayed their feelings to their opponents at the King Baudouin Stadium with the Belgians in agreement as both sets of players sought to put their families and the fans first. Everyone was then held in the stadium for an hour after the game had been abandoned.
Lindelof told Fotbol Skanalen : “I talked to the other players in the team about how they felt, and then I felt that I wanted to talk to the Belgian players. I explained how we looked at the situation. We were very clear that we did not want to continue playing and the Belgian players were completely on board with that.
“There are players who have family and friends there, and we wanted to take care of our supporters. Those who had family or friends here wanted to try to get in touch with those people directly so that they were well. People got worried but our security team explained it very well. We are safe here.”
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The United defender went on to add: “It’s terrible. I don’t really know what to say about that. Our supporters mean a lot to us and we want them to be well and safe.”
The contest at King Baudouin Stadium was abandoned at half-timeSweden already know they cannot qualify for the Euros next summer in Germany with Austria and Belgium clear of them at the top of their group. Their manager Janne Anderson learned of the shootings at half-time, at which point he felt the game had to be stopped.
He said: “We can’t play football when it’s like this. We and Belgium completely agreed that we will not play. I found out about it (the act) during the break on the way down and the decision from all players and leaders is of course that we cannot play the match. It (the shooting) is completely disgusting.”
UEFA put out a statement on Monday night which read: “Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned. Further communication will be made in due course.”