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Sweden’s ex-NBA star leaves Moscow team

Sweden's ex-NBA star Jonas Jerebko has quit CSKA Moscow, the team said on Saturday, less than three months after his controversial decision to join the organisation amid international condemnation of Russia.

Published: 18 June 2022 16:31 CEST

Sweden's ex-NBA star leaves Moscow team

Sweden's basketball player Jonas Jerebko talking to the press in February 2022 after a World Cup qualifier between Sweden and Croatia. He was cut from the national squad at the end of March after he joined CSKA Moscow. (Photo by Stefan Jerrevång / TT)

The Swedish basketball federation cut Jerebko from the national squad at the end of March, a day after he joined CSKA Moscow, saying his decision was “against the federation’s values and our very clear stance towards Russia” over its invasion of Ukraine.

CSKA Moscow wrote on its website on Saturday that “the transition to CSKA turned out to be difficult for Jonas in many ways”.

The Swedish federation said Jerebko would however not be returning to the national squad.

His decision to leave CSKA “doesn’t in any way change the decision we made when he signed with them”, the head of the federation Fredrik Joulamo told Swedish news agency TT.

Jerebko, 35, is the only Swede to have played in the NBA, where he spent 10 seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors between 2009 and 2019.

Jerebko last played for Sweden in a World Cup qualifier against Croatia at the end of February, during which the federation and players showed their support for Ukraine.

Prior to signing for CSKA, Jerebko was without a club after having finished his contract with Khimki Moscow in 2021.

CSKA Moscow have been excluded from the Euroleague because of Russia’s invasion.

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Why were guests at Sven-Göran Eriksson's funeral served porridge and 'molusk'?

Sven-Göran Eriksson, one of Sweden’s most famous football icons, passed away at the end of August, just a few months after he went public with the news that he had terminal pancreatic cancer in January this year.

His funeral was scheduled for 10am on Friday in his hometown, Torsby, in Värmland. Many aspects of the funeral were planned by Eriksson himself, who was famously proud of his roots in Värmland and much-loved in Torsby for his down-to-earth, friendly nature.

Eriksson requested that the funeral be open to the public, so the 600-seater church was expected to be packed with a mix of small-town locals alongside his star-studded guestlist, including former England captain David Beckham and fellow England manager Roy Hodgson.

As the number of people interested in attending far exceeded space in the church, the local town set up a big screen outside where onlookers wishing to pay their respects would be able follow the funeral live.

“I think there will be as many people outside as inside the church,” Christopher Janson from Torsby’s funeral parlor told local newspaper NWT. “He was so folklig [down to earth], remembered people and checked up on his old school classmates. He was definitely a popular figure in town.”

After the ceremony, there was set to be a procession accompanied by Torsby’s local brass band – again, Eriksson’s own request, inspired by the funeral of Italian team Sampdoria’s former president, which Eriksson attended in 1993.

The procession was due to end at Kollsbergs hembygdsgård, where guests were to be treated to local specialties motti and molusk.

But what exactly does that entail?

Luckily for the guests, the molusk has no relation to slimy invertebrates, rather it’s a cake made to the same recipe as a chocolate ball (chokladboll in Swedish) – oats, cocoa powder, butter and sugar – rolled into a log and dipped in chocolate.

Molusk cakes from Wienerkonditoriet in Torsby. Photo: Wienerkonditoriet

“It was Svennis’ request to have molusks and I think it’s because the molusk is a well-known cake from Torsby which has been baked here since the 1950s,” Lisa Nordqvist, from Wienerkonditoriet in Torsby, who supplied the cakes for the funeral reception, told The Local.

“We make the original and everyone who comes from Torsby has heard of it. A lot of people who have visited or have connections to Torsby speak highly of it,” she continued.

Motti, on the other hand, has its roots in Finland, and was brought by Finns to Värmland in the 1600s. It’s a type of porridge made from a special kind of flour called skrädmjöl, which is made from toasted oats.

It’s considered to be Värmland’s national dish, and is made by dumping the flour on top of some sort of liquid, either water or stock, and letting it steam for around ten minutes.

This results in a lumpy, relatively dry porridge which was traditionally eaten with the hands – another word for it is nävgröt, “fist porridge”.

It’s usually served with lingonberry jam and fried fläsk, which is similar to bacon, but slightly thicker, where the lumps of porridge are dipped into the jam and bacon fat.

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