The international future of the Danish trio, Martin Braithwaite, Henrik Dalsagaard and Jonas Knudsen looks to be in jeopardy after they have all been dropped from Aga Hareide’s squad.
In bizarre circumstances, the Danish Football Association were left with no choice but to drop their entire 23-man national squad for their upcoming friendly against Slovakia and their UEFA Nations League opener against Wales later this week, after an ongoing dispute over commercial rights.
Included in the latest squad was the Sky Bet Championship trio of Braithwaite, Dalsgaard, and Knudsen, who are currently playing for Middlesbrough, Brentford and Ipswich Town respectively.
However, the Danish FA released an official statement earlier today, as reported by BBC Sport, that in order to avoid the possible threat of either a potential multi-million euro final and/or suspension from future major competitions, the national side cannot select players who have not signed a new agreement over commercial rights.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen, Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen and Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City are amongst the star names that have also been forcibly removed from the national side.
Because of this saga, if Denmark are to select an entirely new squad prior to their upcoming matches later this week, they must select players from their top two divisions; the Danish Superliga and First Division.
The Championship’s Danish international contingent of Braithwaite, Dalsgaard, and Knudsen have a combined international total of more than 40 caps and were all selected for this summer’s World Cup squad.
In 2017, their Women’s national side boycotted a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Sweden over employment conditions and were handed a £18,000 fine, with Sweden being awarded a 3-0 victory.
Denmark are in the B league of the Nations League and have been drawn with Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
