Four Arrested for Gambling Club Murder of Swedish Footballer

Last June, 26-year-old Swedish football player Eddie Moussa and his brother were shot to death in Café Oasen, a gambling den in the Ronna shopping precinct of Södertälje. Södertälje is a city 36 kilometers from Stockholm, Sweden. Moussa’s team Assyriska, thought by many to be a substitute national team for Assyrians, had been scheduled to play against Angelholms. Moussa had dual Swedish and Lebanese citizenship, the latter recently acquired for potential with the Lebanese National Football Team.

As the police began their quest for three suspects seen leaving Café Oasen, Bjorn Engstrom commented, “With regards to gambling clubs problems emerge from time to time. It can’t be ruled out that the shooting concerns gambling debts.”

Though Café Oasen was a known gambling club, its operation was illicit, outside the Svenska Spel monopoly and Swedish gambling laws. A previous shooting occurred at the café last December. Police have long suspected illegal gambling, but had not been able to prove that the matches in the Swedish poker room had been for actual money. After the second fatal shooting incident, the landlord was finally persuaded to change the locks and find a more suitable tenant.

The police have now arrested four suspects. One is being held on suspicion of murder while the others are being held as accessories. While all were known to police for previous criminal activities, none were previously being sought for the double murder, as the detectives in charge thought the killing may have been arranged by members of the criminal underworld.

Ulf Göranzon, a county police spokesperson, would comment neither on the identity of the current suspects or their precise roles. He has not confirmed or denied that these men had any connection to Sweden’s underworld. Not least, while the spokesperson has not offered any indication what their motives may have been, some on the internet are now suggesting, rather vaguely, that the motive was “revenge”, without clarification for what.

Despite former suggestions that the murder could have resulted from wagering debts, nobody is currently suggesting there was any connection to offline or online sportsbooks in Sweden.