It was a furious mother who, with hand gestures, intense eyes and a raised voice, gave Per Kristiansen, administration and campaign manager for Team Esbjerg, a ruffle.
It was the mother of Dutch handball player Estavana Polman who could not stay in her place in the stands.
She was most likely unhappy that her daughter only came on the field with less than four minutes left of the cup final against Odense Handball on Sunday.
After a long injury period, she has been sidelined by the team several times due to ‘disciplinary reasons.’
Head coach of Team Esbjerg, Jesper Jensen, has elaborated on the ‘disciplinary reasons’ with that ‘no one should sit over the team,’ he has stated to JydskeVestkysten
The statement comes on the basis that Polman refused to allow himself to be substituted in the second half of the Champions League match against Croatian Prodravka on January 29.
Cheers to the star
The Dutch player’s mother was tired of seeing her daughter on the sidelines, and she therefore aired her frustrations to Per Kristiansen, who handled the confrontation fairly calmly.
Estavana Polman also came on the field, and she received the biggest cheer of the match, when she was replaced with just under four minutes left of the match, and with Esbjerg ahead 29-20.
Jesper Jensen was also very pleased with the reaction from the fans.
– It was cool for the spectators, and she also got the biggest cheer of the day. It was mega fat and cool that she went in and was successful. It was a super difficult role, I stood for a long time and considered whether I should put her in, says the head coach to TV 2 after the match.
Neither Team Esbjerg nor Per Kristiansen would subsequently comment on the episode with Polman’s mother.
Polman has not been able to find her previous level after recovering from a knee injury.
Esbjerg won the match 32-21 over the defending cup champions from Odense.