When Malmo FF took on FC Copenhagen in the qualification for the Champions League in 2019, it was the first UEFA fixture ever between two sides from different countries that were located in such close proximity.
There are just 38km from Malmo’s Eleda Stadion to FC Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium, divided by the Oresund Bridge, the longest combined rail and road bridge in Europe. But while the train or car journey between the two cities can be made in just half an hour, the two clubs are worlds apart in footballing terms.
FC Copenhagen the direct opposite of Malmo
In Sweden, the 50+1 rule requires professional football clubs to be member-owned, including Malmo. FC Copenhagen are the direct opposite and are regarded in Sweden as the epitome of everything that is wrong about modern football as a club that rely heavily on private investment after being established in the 1990s as a merger between B1903 and KB, two clubs with an extensive history in Danish football.
Their business ventures, which nearly bankrupted the club in the early years, were under heavy scrutiny by the Danish Police, which led to owner and club president Flemming Oestergaard being handed a suspended prison sentence and fined around £1 million for manipulating the stock market price of Parken Sport & Entertainment in 2008.
Danish champions dwarf Malmo in terms of investments
Since then, FC Copenhagen has grown into a financial giant in Scandinavia and may boast of player wages and transfer fees which their closest competitors, FC Midtjylland, Malmo, Bodo/Glimt, etc, can only dream of.
When it comes to player wages, FC Copenhagen’s wage bill of €47.5 million dwarfs those of Norwegian and Swedish clubs, with Malmo’s playing expenses reaching €24.5 million.
And while Malmo set a new transfer fee record when Strasbourg signed Sebastian Nanasi last season for €11 million, FC Copenhagen doubled that amount when FC Porto, at the end of July, signed Danish international midfielder Victor Froholdt.
With Malmo having once repeatedly qualified for the Champions League, the financial potential would be immense for entering lucrative partnerships with external investors, but the 50+1 rule blocks all of those dreams.
“With the structure that exists in Sweden, an external investor can never have the co-determining influence that is seen in Denmark,” explains Ph.D and sports business expert, Kenneth Cortsen, from UCN to Flashscore.
'Potential investors could make a world of difference in Allsvenskan'
“There is no question that potential investors who could make a world of difference financially will be discouraged from entering partnerships when they see the way things are organised in Sweden.
"Swedish clubs in general struggle to attract the same kind of financial investments that you will see in Denmark.
"You can just point to how the Right to Dream organisation transformed FC Nordsjaelland, and how the partnership with Brentford owner Matthew Benham transformed FC Midtjylland. Those cases don’t exist in Sweden,” adds Cortsen.
In 2009, the controversial 50+1 model was close to being abolished when the Swedish Football Association backed a proposal to remove the rule and thereby open the door for clubs to seek other solutions to ownership.
However, the Svenska Fotbollssupporterunionen (SFSU), an umbrella organisation for supporters’ groups across clubs in the top two divisions, which was then only recently formed, launched heavy protest campaigns against the move and, in the end, prompted the Swedish FA to reverse their decision.
Memberships and crowd attendances are on the rise
That marked the beginning of a movement of support in which fans have taken pride in protecting the integrity of the relationship between clubs and fans, even though it has inadvertently worsened the marketing and commercial options for the Allsvenskan clubs.
This prompted memberships and crowd attendances to rise. An 'Ultras' culture was formed with tifos, pyro, and noise, which essentially reflected the allegiance to individual clubs and the pride of having created the platform for a unique relationship with clubs that you will only find in very few places in the world.
"The clubs in Sweden have a strong connection with fans - and the local area because the members have a high degree of influence," says Cortsen.
"The connection in the local community is more traditional and not as commercial as in Denmark. Danish clubs can accelerate growth faster through investments, whereas Swedish clubs are more dependent on sporting success to generate capital.
'Greater willingness to take risks among Danish clubs'
"There is also a greater willingness from clubs to take risks in Denmark due to the possibility of capital injections.
"FC Midtjylland and FC Copenhagen have bought still more expensive players and have been more willing to take financial risks to qualify for the European club competitions," Cortsen concludes.
Swedish clubs are seemingly taking a stand against sportswashing, state ownership, hedge funds, and rampant capitalism that could threaten their unique connection with their clubs. But there is a high price to be paid.
Swedish fans will point to the fact that Djurgarden did manage to reach the semifinal of the Conference League, but perhaps that says more about the missing quality in that tournament than about Swedish football’s progress.
Allsvenskan is now UEFA’s 23rd-ranked league, and that's unlikely to improve soon. The question now is, will Malmo become the next casualty of Sweden's adoration of the 50+1 rule?