Sweden’s players take overnight flight home after deadly shooting, suspended match in Belgium

Sweden‘s players returned to their clubs Tuesday after taking an overnight flight from Brussels following the suspension of their European Championship qualifying soccer match against Belgium at halftime because a gunman killed two Swedish nationals before kickoff.

European soccer governing body UEFA said a moment of silence will be observed at all Euro 2024 qualifiers on Tuesday to honor the Brussels victims.

It remained unclear whether the Belgium-Sweden match would be completed at a later date. UEFA said it was too early to make any decision and that “further communication will be made in due course.”

Belgium and Austria have qualified for next year’s tournament in Germany, but both teams can still win Group F.

The Sweden squad went directly to the airport and flew back home once they were allowed to leave King Baudouin Stadium, which was locked down for 2½ hours for security reasons before officials began an evacuation process around midnight.

It was about 4 a.m. when the last of the Swedish supporters — totaling about 650, according to the Swedish soccer association — left the stadium under police surveillance, along with some staff from the federation.

All hotels where Swedish supporters were staying were also guarded by police, the federation said.

The Swedish soccer association earlier confirmed to The Associated Press that the national team players were now making their way back to their clubs.

The Belgium team said it was “still devastated” by what had happened in a country hit by several extremist attacks in recent years, including suicide bombings in 2016 that killed 32 people and injured hundreds more in the Brussels subway and airport.

As Belgium woke up in a state of shock, many schools remained closed for the day as a terror alert for Brussels was raised overnight to 4, the country’s top scale, indicating an extremely serious threat. The alert level in the city and the country was scaled down to 3 after the suspect was neutralized, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.

“We want to thank all the fans in the stadium for their understanding and support in these difficult circumstances,” the Belgium national team said on social media. “Our thoughts are with the Swedish, we hope everyone gets home safely.”

The suspect in the shooting was shot dead by police on Tuesday morning, Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said, and the weapon believed to have been used by the man has been recovered.

Swedish soccer officials said information about the shooting incident, which also led to another Swedish national getting seriously injured and taken to the hospital, reached them just before the match began and that Belgian authorities and police considered the game should be played because the stadium was viewed as the safest place for the visiting fans.

A decision was made to halt the match at halftime.

Martin Fredman, the federation’s head of security, said about 400 Swedish fans “received help during the evening and night.”

“The cooperation between supporters, federations and authorities has worked very well in an extremely stressful situation,” Fredman said.

More than two hours after the game was suspended, a message flashed on the big stadium screen saying, “Fans, you can leave the stadium calmly.” Stand after stand emptied onto streets filled with police as the search for the attacker continued.

“Frustrated, confused, scared. I think everyone was quite scared,” said Caroline Lochs, a fan from Antwerp.

Brussels Mayor Philippe Close told La Premiere radio that the game had not been regarded as a high-risk match.

Sweden raised its terror alert to the second-highest level in August after a series of public Quran-burnings by an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden resulted in threats from Islamic militant groups.

“We were [alerted] to the context in the Middle East, but not to the burnt Qurans,” Close said. “Objectively speaking, we have to admit that.”

Belgium international player Thomas Meunier, who did not play on Monday, shared his thoughts after the match.

“Let’s have a prayer for the victims and the people badly influenced by the wrong teaching of a religion. May God help them to find the right way,” Meunier wrote on social media.

Sweden’s under-18 team, currently in Slovakia, decided not to play the second of two international matches on Tuesday for security reasons.

“The U18 match in Slovakia would be played in an open facility where the same level of control is not possible. Therefore, it feels like an easy decision to forgo that match today,” the Swedish soccer federation said.

An under-21 qualifying match for the European Championship in Georgia will, however, be played, the federation said.

“The U21 match in Georgia has an extensive security apparatus around the match and an appointed UEFA delegate,” the federation said. “Since yesterday’s events in Brussels, the hosts in Georgia have taken additional security-enhancing measures, which makes us feel safe with the situation there.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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