With the new season three weeks old, Swedish football fans should by rights be concentrating their efforts on supporting their clubs as the campaign gets into full swing.

However, a meeting held back in December has meant that collective mobilisation has been required.

The reason? A recommendation from the Swedish Sport Federation that the current 50 + 1 ownership structure (which stipulates that at least 51% of all football clubs must be owned by their members) be modified, and a new, reduced minimum of 34% be introduced.

This recommendation was the result of a period of intense lobbying from a number of sporting associations (particularly football and hockey), with the intention of reducing supporter influence at sports clubs. The response from the Svenska Futboll Supporter Unionen (SFSU) was swift: a working group was formed, and a consensus reached: that a full and transparent debate of all the relevant issues should be undertaken before any binding legislation is introduced.

The recent Swedish F.A Annual General Meeting was a further boost for their campaign, with the majority of member clubs indicating their desire for a solution which would allow them to decide on the eventual fate of this recommendation. For all that this is a positive development; the rule change may still be put to a vote at the Federation in the near future.

With this in mind, SFSU members have initiated a public campaign to highlight the benefits of the 50 + 1 rule, and why lowering the threshold would have a negative impact on football in Sweden. The campaign hopes to recreate the impact that the ’50 + 1 muss bleiben’ initiative had in Germany recently.

To read more about the campaigns in Sweden and Germany, visit the following pages:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fs.coop%2F14nh&h=585c6

http://www.supporters-direct.org/news/item.asp?n=6074&cat=sd_eng

To learn more about the current ownership structures in Sweden and Germany , read the Supporters Direct publication ‘What is the Feasibility of a Supporters Direct Europe?’ from pages 130 and 65 respectively.

http://clients.squareeye.net/uploads/sd/documents/SDEurope-Full-Report.pdf