Former chairman of Swedish team Ostersund jailed for bribery

OSTERSUND, Sweden (AP) — The former chairman of Swedish soccer team Ostersund was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison on Thursday for bribery.

Daniel Kindberg was also banned from doing business for three years by Ostersund District Court, according to Swedish news agency TT.

Kindberg is regarded as the mastermind behind the rise of Ostersund from the amateur ranks in 2011 to Sweden’s top league in 2015. The team won the Swedish Cup in 2017 to qualify for the Europa League, where it advanced to the knockout stage before losing to Arsenal despite winning the second leg 2-1 at Emirates Stadium. Ostersund currently plays in Sweden’s second division.

The court said Kindberg was guilty of aggravated bribery and other accounting and tax offenses during 2014-18, when he was CEO of the Ostersund municipality’s housing corporation.

He was also sentenced to pay nearly 5.5 million Swedish kronor ($540,000) to the state.

Kindberg has said he will appeal.

Kindberg was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 for serious financial crimes in a separate trial, but was acquitted in the Court of Appeal last year.

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