Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 13:57• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 14:06

Zlatan Ibrahimovic may be suspended for years, reports the Swedish sports newspaper Sportsbladet. The AC Milan attacker co-owns a Malta-based betting office and has broken the rules of both FIFA and UEFA. It could put Ibrahimovic on a suspension of up to three years, during which he would not be allowed to perform any football activity. If the striker is actually found guilty, he can also face a fine of up to 100,000 euros.

FIFA and UEFA regulations stipulate that footballers with financial motives in gambling companies are not allowed to participate in official matches of either association. Ibrahimovic became co-owner of Bethard, a Malta-based betting office, through his limited liability company Unknown AB in 2018. For that reason, participation in the 2018 World Cup was impossible for the center forward of the Swedish national team, should Ibrahimovic have planned to announce his return before the final tournament. In the end, Ibrahimovic opted for a break with the national team before announcing his return this year.

FIFA and UEFA ethics regulations apply to all matches organized by the federations. This means that Ibrahimovic broke the rules when he made his comeback with the national team in Sweden’s 1-0 World Cup qualifier against Georgia at the end of March. The rules of UEFA were also broken by the 117-time international, as the attack leader came into action with AC Milan in September 2020 in the Europa League game against Shamrock Rovers, won 0-2.

CEO Erik Skarp of Bethard has in an email to Sportsbladet confirmed that Ibrahimovic is still a shareholder of the company. “These are questions that should be referred to FIFA. We have a contract with Zlatan that we follow. If there are any issues, we will deal with them together,” said Skarp. Bethard last month offered bets on Sweden’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia (1-0 win) and Kosovo (0-3 win) and also offers weekly betting on Serie A. known to the Swedish Football Association for years.

“I choose not to speculate on possible sanctions, but will of course continue to press for clarification on FIFA rules, which in all fairness may seem very vague,” said Swedish Football Association Secretary General Hakan Sjöstrand , in a comment. “We haven’t talked to Zlatan Ibrahimovic about it yet.”