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24.08.2016 Sports News

Man acted on impulse in assault of goalkeeper at Swedish match

24.08.2016 LISTEN
By GNA

Stockholm, Aug.24, (GNA/dpa) - A 17-year-old man suspected of assaulting a goalkeeper during a recent Swedish top-flight football match acted on "impulse" when the result went against a bet he had placed, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Prosecutor Pernilla Torsleff told Swedish Radio that the preliminary investigation had not revealed any other motive, and that the suspect said he had bet several thousand kronor (hundreds of dollars) on a different result.

The incident - which forced the game to be abandoned - took place last week when Jonkopings Sodra hosted Ostersund in the town of Jonkoping in southern Sweden.

The teams were drawing 1-1 close to the end of the game when the suspect stormed onto the pitch and hit Ostersund goalkeeper Aly Keita before security guards were able to intervene and apprehend the man.

Keita is black so a racist motive was first mentioned as a potential reason for the attack while match-fixing was also put forward as a motive on social media.

GNA

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