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Sweden may be forced to complete their abandoned Euro 2024 qualifier against Belgium under UEFA rules despite two supporters being shot dead in a terrorist attack.
Monday night’s match at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels was suspended at half-time when news of the tragic incident filtered through.
Swedish supporters were locked inside the stadium until 4am, while the players were taken to the airport under police escort to return home.
Sweden and Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof said there was ‘no reason to finish the match’ given Belgium have already qualified for Euro 2024 and Sweden cannot make it to the tournament in Germany.
Victor Lindelof called for Monday night’s Belgium vs Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier not to be completed following the deaths of two Swedish fans in a terrorist attack in Brussels
The qualifier was suspended at half-time with the score at 1-1 – UEFA rules governing the European Championship say the match must be completed at the earliest opportunity
Swedish supporters were kept in the stadium until 4am by Belgian police following the attack
Concerned supporters embraced each other during the terrifying experience as Belgian authorities locked all fans inside the stadium for their own safety in the aftermath of the attack
Romelu Lukaku and his Belgium teammates left the ground on their own after the suspension
‘Belgium are already qualified and we don’t have the opportunity to get to the European Championship, so I see no reason to play [replay the game],’ Lindelof said.
The score was 1-1 at the time the game was abandoned. Viktor Gyokeres gave Sweden a 15th-minute lead, but Romelu Lukaku had Belgium level just after the half-hour.
But UEFA’s regulations mean Sweden may have little choice but to return to Brussels and complete the fixture at a later date.
Article 29 of UEFA’s rules for the European Championship, governing the ‘Rescheduling of matches’, make this very clear.
It reads: ‘If a match cannot start or cannot be played in full, the full or remaining match time is, as a rule, played on the next day, without prejudice to any possible disciplinary measures.
‘For that purpose, the host associations must conclude all the necessary agreements to ensure that the required facilities are available and can be operated.’
Given the Swedish players have already left Belgium, the match won’t be rescheduled for Tuesday as is the best case scenario.
But the next article states: ‘If a match cannot be rescheduled the next day, the UEFA administration fixes a new date, during or as close as possible to the international match calendar window concerned.
Lindelof sent his condolences to the families of the victims in an Instagram post on Tuesday
Distraught Sweden fans inside the King Baudouin Stadium during the traumatic evening
Sweden manager Janne Anderson (middle) spoke to the media shortly after the game was abandoned
Emil Holm and his teammates were given a police escort to the airport on Monday night
Police at the King Baudouin Stadium patrolled Swedish fans until it was safe for them to leave
‘The rescheduling may entail exceptions to the regular match scheduling pattern.’
The rules also say: ‘As a rule, a rescheduled match is played at the same venue. If the circumstances require a change of venue, the UEFA administration must approve the alternative venue.’
According to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the Belgian football association will put no pressure on their Swedish counterparts to finish the match – even if it means they sacrifice a top seeding for Euro 2024.
Manu Leroy, the acting general secretary of the Belgian FA, said: ‘We want to show our respect for what happened. It is important to be big in situation like this and we will be.’
He added that the ‘best solution’ will be to let the match formally end 1-1 but UEFA is unlikely to sanction this.
Swedish FA general secretary Hakan Sjostrand added: ‘We will conduct a dialogue with the Belgian FA and UEFA. It [finishing the match] is completely secondary.
‘They have to deal with this, hopefully in a sensible and good way.’
Lindelof took to his Instagram account on Tuesday, posting a picture of the travelling Swedish fans inside the stadium.
He wrote: ‘I’m shocked and devastated by the terrible incidents in Brussels with the cold-hearted attacks on our fellow Swedes.
‘I’m lost for words for the cruelty and inhumanity, I want to send my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected.
‘At the same time, my thoughts go out to all the supporters in Belgium last night, no one should ever go to a game of football and feel unsafe when supporting their team.’
A third Swedish fan was seriously injured – as the alleged attacker claimed to be a member of ISIS seeking to avenge the killing of a six-year-old US-Palestinian boy
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the motive behind the attack was that the victims were Swedish
Local authorities in Brussels are treating the attack as terrorism-related
The Swedish team headed home after being held back in the stadium until well into the early hours, with Lindelof heading back to his wife Maja and two children in Manchester.
Maja wrote on her Instagram account alongside a picture of her husband: ‘There are no words. My thoughts go out to all those affected yesterday. To the victims and their families. To all Swedish fans. To Sweden.’
She added: ‘And I just want you home now.’
Leroy revealed news of the attack filtered through before the game, but the Euro 2024 qualifier was allowed to kick-off after police and security services were consulted.
The shooting took place on Boulevard d’Ypres, three miles from the stadium, and sparked an overnight manhunt as the terror threat for the city was raised to its maximum level.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday morning, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the motive behind the attack was that the victims were Swedish.
‘The perpetrator targeted specifically Swedish supporters who were in Brussels to attend the match against Belgium,’ he said.
‘Two Swedish fans have passed away. A third person is recovering from severe injures.’
A map shows the location of the killing in Brussels city centre and that of the King Baudouin Stadium in the city’s northwestern suburbs – 35,000 supporters were in attendance
Players, fans and match officials observed a minute’s silence prior to match on Monday night
De Croo added the attack was carried out by someone who wanted to create ‘fear and division in our free society’. However, he warned that ‘ terrorists must understand that they will never succeed.
‘Terrorism will never defeat us and we fight this fight together with our Swedish friends.’
The Belgian premier added security in Brussels had been increased and will be strengthened in places connected to Swedish citizens.
A video posted online featured a fluorescent-jacketed man claiming a link to Islamic State saying in Arabic that he had carried out a ‘revenge attack’.
In it, he boasted that he had killed ‘infidels’ while earlier in the day he had posted on Facebook referring to the stabbing in the US of a Palestinian boy, by his mother’s landlord.
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne told the news conference the suspect was a 45-year-old Tunisian man who sought asylum in Belgium in November 2019 and was known to police over people smuggling and illegal residence in Belgium.
Amid distressing scenes, UEFA released a statement confirming the cancellation, which happened at half-time during the clash at the King Baudouin Stadium. Swedish fans were asked to stay in the ground for their own safety.
It 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.’
