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“Sweden‘s Euro 2012 squad playing England tomorrow have been rapped by their country’s prime minister for conducting a bizarre bare-bottomed training session.
A hugely embarrassing film shows reserve goalkeeper Johan Wiland on all fours with his shorts lowered, as players fire off shots at his exposed buttocks.
The team were playing a game called ‘the pig’ in which players volley the ball to each other.
As ‘punishment’ for letting the ball drop, Wiland was made to get on his hands and knees for the humiliating naked ritual.
Sweden were defeated by Ukraine on Monday and must beat England in Kiev on Friday to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
But instead of a rigorous practice session at their training ground, they were caught playing the oddball game popular in school playgrounds.
Prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt today lashed out at the national team that now has the hopes of the country on its shoulders.
He told Sweden’s Expressen newspaper: ‘People who carry expectations should be aware of that and act accordingly.
‘It’s important to reflect on how what one does in order to meet expectations.’
Centre Party leader Annie Loof described the game as ‘tasteless’, adding to the paper: ‘They are really not being good role models.’
And Goran Hagglund, leader of the Christian Democrat party, said: ‘I do not think they should be engaging in these types of games.’
The head of Sweden’s anti-bullying group Friends also told Expressen: “They have shown unbelievably poor judgment.
hey are heroes for thousands of boys and girls across Sweden and I don’t think they should send signals that this is okay.
‘These sorts of games happen at schools and at sports clubs, but there are also children who end up vulnerable in these situations.’
But the team’s press spokesman Hans Hultman refused to apologise for the incident, describing it as ‘no big deal’.
He said last night: ‘It’s a game the players play in different ways. There’s nothing else to it.’
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