Football: No replay for Swedish game marred by fan's death

STOCKHOLM - A Swedish first division game abandoned after a supporter died in clashes before kick-off will not be replayed, the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) announced on Monday.

Helsingborg and Stockholm side Djurgaarden were playing the opening fixture of the new football season on March 30 in the southern city of Helsingborg when news of the 43-year-old's death broke.

Djurgaarden fans began chanting "murderer, murderer" and invaded the pitch, causing the match to be called off in the 40th minute.

The police advised the referee against restarting the game.

SvFF said on its website that they had decided to validate a 1-1 result, the score at the moment the match was cancelled.

The association explained that they had made an exception to the rule that dictates that if a match is interrupted by a pitch invasion their team is ruled to have lost 3-0.

SvFF said it had stopped the teams replaying the game out of respect for the dead fan and to avoid fresh incidents.

This was the second death in Sweden in football hooligan-related violence - a supporter died during fighting in Stockholm city centre in 2002 during a game between Gothenburg and Stockholm team AIK.