The Denmark Football Association (DBU) is in dispute with their international players over commercial sponsorship. If the match against Wales is forfeited, the DBU is likely to face harsh penalties from UEFA, which may include exclusion from the 2020 European Championships.
Star Players Strike in Denmark National Team Crisis
What Are the Players Striking About?
The dispute stems from a disagreement over new contracts with the Danish players on international duty. The players want to retain their rights to obtain individual sponsorship deals with companies in direct competition with the national team sponsors.
Players like Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen, Huddersfield’s Mathias Jørgensen and Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel also have issues with the travelling conditions. The players union made several offers to extend the current contracts but the DBU have insisted that they need to alter the commercial arrangements.
The DBU believes it needs to amend the commercial sponsorship arrangements to ensure more funds are raised for community projects, which on the surface is a valid reason. However, because the changes would impact the players’ personal sponsorship arrangements, the union have not agreed.
What Does This Mean?
The Danish players have offered to extend the current contract they have for another month, that would cover the present international break and the matches against Slovakia and Wales. The offer was declined by the DBU, leaving them with a dilemma.
The Danish Football Association wrote to their domestic clubs to try and compile a side, using players who had never before been capped. However, the Danish Superliga and First Division teams refused to make their players available.
This left the Danes with the real prospect of facing sanctions from UEFA if they forfeit any of the international fixtures. Having had similar issues with the women’s team, to avoid facing sanctions, the DBU looked to the lower leagues and even to the national futsal squad for players.
Having successfully got together enough players, the DBU named the squad to play the matches. The results are unlikely to be a win for the Danes, despite being the higher ranked team.
Will the Dispute be Settled?
This is very hard to know as neither side wishes to back down. However, for the sake of Danish football, an agreement must be reached between the players and the DBU. With the next European Football Championship less than two years away, something has to be sorted.
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