Why soccer might be Sweden’s way out of a gang crime crisis
Every Saturday night, deep in the heart of Gottsunda—a suburb on the outskirts of Uppsala, Sweden’s fourth-largest city—an unusual kind of football match takes place. Organized by Robert Wirehag, a local pastor and former youth player for Swedish club IK Sirius, these weekly games are more than just sport. They’re an intervention. Uppsala, known historically as a calm university town located about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from Stockholm, seems worlds apart from the energy in Gottsunda after dark. Here, instead of students and scholars, the streets are filled with boys aged 12 to 17. And according to Wirehag, they all have one thing in common: they’re potential gang recruits. “Why? Because they live in a specific suburb in the outer part of the city,” Wirehag explains. “All of them are at risk. Some are already involved in gangs, others are […]
