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Fan files consumer complaint against football club

An extended winless streak by one of Sweden’s biggest football clubs has caused a disgruntled fan to report AIK to the Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) for misleading marketing practices.

Fan files consumer complaint against football club

“The club has made a fool of itself again this year,” AIK supporter Kristoffer Gahlin told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

AIK’s chances of success this year in Sweden’s top football league, the Allsvenskan, have gone from bad to worse in recent weeks as the team has failed to win in its last five matches.

Gahlin has been a registered supporter of the club since 1978 but has now decided he’s fed up with the team’s haplessness.

“Every year they go out and promise how good things are going to be, and then everything ends up being as it has been,” he told DN

“The supporters are the only ones who fall for it, spending a lot of money and getting used.”

AIK is one of three Allsvenskan-level clubs located in the Stockholm area. The club is known for having some of the country’s most rowdy fans.

Mattias Grundström, a lawyer with the KO who is himself an AIK supporter, confirmed that Gahlin’s complaint had been received but didn’t think it would be a priority.

“I can understand that many in AIK feel troubled, but it’s not the same as when a case deals with food prices, for example,” he said.

At the weekend, AIK dropped yet another match 0-2 to Trelleborg, which trails AIK in the standings by several points.

“After the effort against Trelleborg, I can understand the public’s frustration, but I don’t think that the Consumer Agency is going to take action against AIK Fotball AB,” Grundström told DN.

AIK communications director Sophie Josefsson says the club plans to review its product description.

“It’s great that AIK means so much to people that they react and push the issue,” she said.

For his part, Gahlin simply hopes that the club accepts the criticism and stops promising things it can’t deliver only to then cry to fans when things don’t go well.

“They can apologize instead for not delivering the product they are selling,” he said.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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