At the European Football Championship in 2016, outsider Iceland was the crowd’s favorite. Now the national team runs the risk of squandering all sympathies. It is particularly about the allegation of sexual abuse by a national player.
The Icelandic battle cry “Huh!” of the clapping fans and players lingered on for a long time. With pragmatic football and an outsider mentality, Iceland made it to the quarter-finals of the 2016 European Championship, thrilled its fans and earned a lot of sympathy. Five years later there isn’t much left of it. In terms of sport, things are going badly before the World Cup qualifier against Germany in Reykjavik on Wednesday (8.45 p.m. / RTL). On top of that, a scandal is shaking Icelandic football, which used to be so cozy and friendly.
Allegations of sexual harassment and abuse from a few years ago recently caused a stir in the island state with just under 360,000 inhabitants. A woman said she was abused by a national player in a nightclub in 2017. Because of the affair, the President of the Icelandic Football Association KSI, Gudni Bergsson, and the entire board have since resigned. The accusation of cover-up is in the room. The association announced a thorough investigation.
The police and the association are said to have done nothing
Bergsson said the KSI had never received complaints or reports of allegations of sexual assault. One of the allegedly affected then reported on the Icelandic television station RUV that a lawyer had even offered her hush money. Although she and another person concerned turned to the police and the association, the alleged perpetrator then continued to play in the national team.
In the meantime, striker Kolbeinn Sigthórsson announced that he was one of the suspects. The 31-year-old admitted that he behaved “inappropriately” in a club at the time. However, he rejected the allegation of sexual abuse. He later met with the women, apologized and, at the request of the two, paid three million Icelandic kroner (20,000 euros) to an aid organization. Sigthórsson, who became famous in the 2016 European Championship round of 16 with his winning goal to 2-1 against England, has been suspended for the time being.
Iceland coach Arnar Thor Vidarsson made only vague comments on Tuesday about the events of the past few days. “Everyone reads the media, it was difficult and absolutely not ideal,” said Vidarsson. However, the team handled the difficult situation well. “I’m proud of my boys and we keep working.”
Failures cause problems for the team
From a purely sporting point of view, the team has had other losses besides Sigthórsson. Augsburg’s Alfred Finnbogason has not yet returned to the national team after injury problems. Aron Gunnarsson is not available due to a corona infection. On top of that, Gylfi Sigurdsson is missing, who was not yet in the squad for his club Everton this season.
After all, a few days before the Germany game in the Laugardalsvöllur stadium, there was positive news that Iceland fans could be happy about. Andri Lucas Gudjohnsen scored the 2-2 equalizer against North Macedonia. The 19-year-old belongs to the third generation of Icelandic footballers with the name Gudjohnsen on their jerseys. His father is the national football idol Eidur Gudjohnsen, who previously scored goals for Chelsea and FC Barcelona, is the record scorer and is now Iceland’s assistant coach. Andri’s grandfather Arnór had previously played for the Icelandic national team.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
