Thomas Axner was once furious that the U18 Women’s Championship is being played without gum.
Now he gets the support of the Norwegian national team manager Thorir Hergeirsson.
– He says that it is under all the criticism that you test this in the tournament.
Currently, the restroom is running for women under 18 in North Macedonia.
There, a new concept is tested – playing without glue and instead playing with a ball free of glue.
Sweden captain Thomas Aksner had previously vented about the invention.
– I don’t want to see this ball in a great context. If it is presented at a high level, it will change the sport a lot and become very unattractive, he told Sportbladet.
Now he gets the support of the Norwegian national team manager Thorir Hergeirsson.
– Under all the criticism that you test this in the tournament. It’s bad for girls who play – and interestingly also – it’s being tested on girls. Why isn’t it done to the boys? It’s somewhat of a nod in the culture of leaders at the IHF, the Norwegian told VG.
“discrimination”
The men’s under-18s are also playing a championship this summer, but no sticky ball will be tested in EC.
It’s definitely a form of discrimination. Much effort is made on the part of women that is not done on the part of men – for example by trying young and inexperienced referees in tournaments. There has been a trend in the past, Hergerson says, although it has improved somewhat.
Sweden’s under-18 team qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals yesterday, when they defeated Iran 39-19.