Striker Joel Asoro was put on the bench in Djurgården's opener against Brommapojkarna. Afterwards, he was visibly disappointed.
- I didn't get an explanation for that. But just take this away. Sometimes you play, sometimes you don't play," says Asoro.
That he would not have received any explanation for the poking, however, is an untruth, according to Djurgården's sporting director Bosse Andersson.
"The coaches had a discussion with Joel on Thursday where they gave him a justification as to why he wasn't selected. They took their time and sat down with him. You've spent a lot of time in the spring getting him to do what you want him to do," he told SVT Sport.
Forced to apologize
The sporting director understands that Asoro is disappointed, but cannot accept the reasoning behind the lack of explanation.
"This is completely unacceptable and unimaginable.
He has been in contact with the player who has had to call coaches Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlöf and apologize.
"Of course he feels silly. He's aware it didn't turn out so well and has had to call the coaches and apologize, because that wasn't true.
Djurgården won the match 3–1.