The Danish women’s national team have recently been in the middle of a dispute over pay.
The situation between the Danish Football Association (DBU) and the players reached such a deadlock that they went on strike ahead of last week’s friendly against the Netherlands, causing the game to be cancelled.
Now however the men’s team have announced that they will surrender their yearly 500,000 DKK (£60,000 approx) bonus for playing for the national side and give it to the women’s team. The move will essentially put both the men’s and women’s teams on the same level in the DBU.
A press release from the players read:
Women must not have inferior rights than us because they are women. Therefore, we offer to deduct 500,000 DKK a year of our money requiring DBU to give the women’s team players the same rights as us.
We are the national teams, and we stand together and take responsibility for each other. Now, DBU must also live up to their responsibilities. We give them every chance to do that and get this deal now closed with the offer we come with here.
The move is particularly important as the strike had threatened to disrupt the women’s team’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary on Tuesday night.
It’s a great move to see the men’s team using their power to support the women’s game. The women’s game has been consistently growing in popularity, especially in Denmark, after the national team reached the of EURO 2017, and it should be given every opportunity to continue to grow.
