Police Investigate Sexual Harassment Incident at Gothia Cup School
On the first day of this year’s Gothia Cup, the police were called to a school in Gothenburg after an alarm about suspected sexual harassment. The school serves as accommodation for both girls’ and boys’ teams during the tournament.
“We received information from the organizer that there has been an incident and we are going there with a patrol. We are also cooperating with social services and the organizer – who sent their crisis team to investigate what has happened at the school,” says Joseph Antabi, police operations manager.
According to information to the GP, it is a guy in his early teens who is suspected of having sexually molested several girls in their younger teens, by groping them. It is not something that the police are commenting on, but they confirm that there have been two reports of sexual harassment, both of which relate to the same incident, and that one person is reasonably suspected. A preliminary investigation has also been initiated.
“Why have you written two reports?”
“It is an approach that we have, if a crime has occurred at a certain interval, fo, or if we have several different events. But this is one and the same incident and there we have drawn up two reports as sexual harassment,” says Joseph Antabi.
“We have received information that several people have been exposed, is that correct?”
“I don’t have 100 percent control over how many plaintiffs there are, so I won’t comment on that. As far as I know, there is more than one plaintiff,” says Joseph Antabi.
According to information to GP, the organizer has moved the team with the suspected criminal player to another school. Gothia Cup does not want to comment on that or anything else about the incident, other than that they know about it.
“We are aware that there is a report of sexual harassment and we are cooperating with the police and social services in that case, according to the routines we have worked out together,” says Malin Fahlén, communications manager for Gothia Cup.
She adds:
“The cup management has suspended this player during an ongoing investigation and otherwise we have no comments on the matter.”
The Gothia Cup, a prestigious youth soccer tournament held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, attracts teams from around the world. The incident has raised concerns about safety and the measures in place to protect young participants.
The police will continue their investigation to gather more information about the incident and ensure justice is served. The Gothia Cup organizers are committed to cooperating with the authorities and implementing necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future.