On Monday evening, it is a historic moment for the young Danish league club, Aalborg DH, in the Gigantoim Arena of Aalborg. In their first Champions League appearance ever, the Danish side has reached the semi-finals and will be facing mighty Krim...

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On Monday evening, it is a historic moment for the young Danish league club, Aalborg DH, in the Gigantoim Arena of Aalborg. In their first Champions League appearance ever, the Danish side has reached the semi-finals and will be facing mighty Krim Ljubliana with the first leg on Monday and the second match next Sunday in Slovenia.

However, Aalborg DH is in a lot of trouble before the probably most important match in the club´s history. The strong Danish national team player Rikke Nielsen, who can play all positions in the back court, is out with an injured thumb and will not be fit for any of the semi-final matches. Furthermore, another back court player, Marianne Rokne, did not returned from a training camp and internationals with the Norwegian national team last week. Rokne has not shown up for training, and has not been heard from at all. She has told Norwegian media that she was unhappy with Aalborg coach Christian Dalmose´s behaviour towards the players, but the club itself has not been able to get in touch with her.

Wanting to leave

The Players´ Union in Denmark has heard from Rokne though. "The Players´ Union has appointed a lawyer for Marianne Rokne, and we hope that Aalborg and Rokne can reach some kind of agreement" said the chairman of the Danish Players´ Union, Torsten Laen.

"It seems that she wants to get out of her contract with us - although she extended it by two and a half year in January - in order to play for another club. I am really surprised by this development in the case, but now we have left the rest to our lawyer" said Aalborg DH´s director Erik Just, who has given up on seeing Mariann Rokne for the Champions League semi-finals.

Positive news too

In the meantime coach Christian Dalmose has to prepare the rest of the players for the big task against Krim - and in this connection he can be happy that some of the players, who have been injured recently - Kristine Lunde, Narcissa Lecusanu, and Natasja Burgers - have had some time to recover from their injuries, and will hopefully be completely fit for the Champions League semi-finals.

Text: Peter Bruun