Denmark have released their entire 23 man squad ahead of games against Slovakia and Wales this week.
This bizarre turn of events comes after a dispute over commercial rights, according to reports.
The squad included Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen, Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen and Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
The Danish Football Association (DBU) must now find a brand new 23 man squad from scratch in time for the fixtures.
These players must also be from outside the Players’ Association to be legible to play.
The DBU’s negotiations with the Danish Football Players’ Association broke down when discussing the players’ rights to make individual sponsorship agreements with companies competing with national team sponsors.
On Sunday, the players refused to sign a new deal, missing the deadline set by the DBU.
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Emails have now been sent to clubs informing them that their players will not be needed.
Tottenham star Christian Eriksen has hit out at reports from the DBU, insisting that they are ‘simply not fair’.
“We are making a big surplus for the DBU every year and therefore it is disappointing that the DBU tries to tell a story that we don’t think of anything else but our own wallets.
“The DBU is pleased to say in the media that now we must look at solidarity, community and togetherness – as if we do not really care about the whole.
“Is that not what we do when we always enthusiastically go, for example, to DBU’s events with children. Like when I’m home in my childhood club and playing soccer with the kids. It’s simply not fair, or fair to blame us for not thinking about anyone but ourselves. In fact, it’s really uncomfortable to listen to.
“None of us have forgotten what it’s like to be a little football boy with big dreams and big idols.”
Denmark managed to defy the odds and get all the way to the round of 16 at this year’s World Cup in Russia, only getting knocked out by runners-up Croatia on penalties.
“It is strange to see the DBU completely forget that all the money they can spend on projects with children and football actually comes from the results we have with the national team. The DBU does not need to thank us for doing that, because we are proud to be able to help the whole of Danish football, but it’s hard to paint a fake picture of us as bad guys.
“How will DBU, once when the agreement is hopefully in place, go out and sell advertisements and sponsorships on our good image as a national team when they try to tear the image down and drag it through the mud?
“The DBU tries to make it look like it’s us players who do not want to play, but it is the DBU who do not want to negotiate and make a deal that we can play with.”
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