Nilla Fischer recalled the 2011 World Championships.
In her book, Nilla Fischer (bottom right) reveals the shocking event of the 2011 World Cup. Zumawire / Mvphotos
The Swedish football legend Nilla Fischer reveals in her book “Jag sa inte ens halved” that she and other Swedish national team players had to prove that they were really women at the 2011 World Cup in Germany.
The international football association Fifa demanded that the teams playing in the games make sure that the players are really women. Fifa’s demand came after three Equatorial Guinea players were accused of not being women.
Fischer said that the players had to take off their underwear as well.
– We had to go through a humiliating process. It didn’t matter how strange and offensive it felt, says Fischer in his book.
According to Fischer, the Swedish national team’s doctor and a female physiotherapist knocked on the players’ hotel room doors and asked them to quickly remove their underwear.
– I understand what I have to do and quickly take off my training pants and underwear at the same time. The physiotherapist nods, says yes, and then looks at the doctor, who is standing with his back to the door. Kun jokainen joukkueen jäsen on tarkistettu, eli kun ovat saaneet nähdä paljaan pillun, lääkäri voi allekirjoittaa, että Ruotsin naisten jalkapallomaajoukkueessa on vain naisia, Fischer kertoo kirjassaan.
“Then we were shocked”
Nilla Fischer won, among other things, Olympic silver in the Swedish national team jersey. PDO
Fischer recalled the incident to the Swede for SVT.
– The more I talk about it, the sicker it feels. At first we thought it was a joke, but then we were shocked. That shouldn’t happen.
Fischer did not talk about ending the inspection to the Swedish Football Association, because the association had received an order from Fifa. He doesn’t even blame the country’s football association for what happened.
– They did what they had to do.
Swedish team doctor Mats Börjesson confirms that the revisions have been made and that the order just came from Fifa.
– In every tournament, we make sure the players are women by ticking the box in the same way we do for heart health. The fact that the matter was so acute that year, and they required more than one rusk, was because they had probably found some who had cheated.
Fischer won two World Cup bronze medals and Olympic silver in his playing career in the national team. At the club team level, he won the Champions League once and the German Bundesliga four times in Wolfsburg’s shirt.
He ended his playing career in December.