2009 Malmö Davis Cup riots

2009 Malmö riot
Police vans monitoring a section of the wider protests.
Location	Malmö, Sweden
Date	7 March 2009
Attack type	rioting
Weapons	stones, fireworks, paint bombs
Perpetrators	100 detained, 10 arrested, 18 put on trial
No. of participants	Directly involved: 200–300 Protesters: 6,000–7,000
Defenders	Malmö police department Danish riot vehicle support

The 2009 Malmö Davis Cup riots were anti-Israel riots in the Swedish city of Malmö against a Davis Cup tennis match between Sweden and Israel on 7 March 2009.

In February, the tennis match had been decided by Malmö's red-green city coalition to be closed to the public, a decision that was heavily criticised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The Mayor of Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu personally said he thought the game should not be played at all, and the decision was thus considered to be more politically motivated than out of security concerns.

In anticipation of protests around 1,000 police officers sanctioned off a large area around the Baltic Hall tennis stadium to keep protesters and rioters away. A reported 170 truck loads of pavement stones were transported out of the area before the protests, and three schools were closed. In addition, for the first time in history, riot vehicles were brought in from Denmark.

The match was initially met with protest of around 6,000 to 7,000 anti-Israel demonstrators, with speeches held by the leader of the Left Party, Lars Ohly, who while wearing a Palestinian scarf was seen holding a map of Palestine with Israel eradicated. The demonstrators were joined by several hundred militants of which around 200 to 300 began attacking police with stones, fireworks and paint bombs. The anti-Israel rioters included AFA anti-fascists, militant Islamists, organised neo-Nazis, as well as activists from neighbouring countries. Police eventually detained around 100 rioters, arresting ten. An additional eighteen rioters were later identified and put on trial for their part in the riots, with several convictions.

The decision to close the tennis match to the public resulted in Malmö being banned from hosting tennis matches by the ITF for five years. In addition to having to provide $15,000 in minimum gate receipts for the match, the Swedish Tennis Association was fined an additional $25,000. The Swedish Tennis Association responded by issuing penalties to Malmö mayor Ilmar Reepalu for his involvement in the event.