Denmark risk being excluded from World Cup after cancelling qualifier with Sweden over pay dispute
The Danish women's football team will not play Sweden in the scheduled World Cup qualifier on Friday and risk being kicked out of the competition as a dispute between the players and the Danish Football Association (DBU) has not yet been resolved.
"The DBU has today told the Swedish FA that the players of the women's national team have not gathered in order to play the game, which will now not be played," a statement read on Wednesday.
The statement also added that the FA now faces fines, points deductions and possibly expulsion from the competition because of the failure to fulfil the fixture.
READ MORE: Norway’s historic pay deal for women’s team show it can be done
The Danish players, who lost in the final of the European Championship to hosts Netherlands in August, have been engaged in tough negotiations with the DBU over compensation and conditions for female internationals.
Norway recently announced that its male and female players would receive the same pay, but talks between the DBU and the its women's team have broken down several times in recent weeks.
Denmark have so far played one match of their 2019 World Cup qualifying campaign, which was a 6-1 victory over Hungary last month. They are scheduled to play against Croatia on Tuesday.
.@FIFPro urges the Danish football association to negotiate with their women’s team instead of cancelling the World Cup match vs Sweden
— FIFPro (@FIFPro) October 18, 2017
Danish female players want a fair compensation for the approximately 70 days they spend annually with the national team. 🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/CE09Ue7UCi
— FIFPro (@FIFPro) October 18, 2017
According to media reports, the gap between what the Danish female players want and what the DBU offers is only 75,000 USD. 🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/SjU8DPvZx2
— FIFPro (@FIFPro) October 18, 2017
Denmark was runner-up at the 2017 Women's Euro. The FA set new goals: reach 2019 World Cup semi final and qualify for 2020 Olympics 🇩🇰...
— FIFPro (@FIFPro) October 18, 2017