Swedish minister supports Turkish-origin footballer by wearing his jersey

STOCKHOLM

Swedish Social Services and Sports Minister Annika Strandhall has shown her support for Turkish-origin Swedish footballer Jimmy Durmaz by wearing his jersey.

“Today’s outfit. We are Sweden,” Strandhall said in a widely shared tweet on June 27, showing her going to work in Durmaz’s jersey.

Durmaz has been a target of criticism, as well as racist insults and death threats on social media, since he caused a foul in the last minutes of Sweden’s World Cup game against Germany on June 23.

The foul kick was used by German player Toni Kroos, who scored, leading to Sweden’s 2-1 defeat.

Luckily for Durmaz, Sweden beat Mexico 3-0 on June 27, qualifying for the Top 16 round, while Germany was eliminated after their 2-0 defeat against South Korea.