The Denmark men’s football team took a stand for gender equality this week when they refused a pay rise in favour of working towards equal remuneration for their female counterparts.
It comes as they engaged with The Danish Football Association (DBU) to sign a new four year agreement that will come into play after the men’s Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
"The men’s team chose not to demand any changes in the conditions in their new agreement," Michael Sahl Hansen, Spillerforeningen Director says, as outlined in FIFPRO.
View this post on InstagramAdvertisement
"It’s an extraordinary step to help improve the conditions of the women’s national teams. So, instead of looking for better conditions for themselves, the players thought about supporting the women’s team,” he added.
Prior to the negotiations, The DBU had expressed that they intended to offer equal pay for the men’s and women’s national teams, but the sticking point arose when it was revealed that they planned to do so at a cost to the current men’s teams earnings, who, under that system, would have had to reduce their basic pay in order to bring up the income of the women’s teams.
Hansen suggests that both the men’s and the women’s teams were “upset” with that intention, and, backed by the Danish player union, the Spillerforeningen, alternative arrangements were put to The DBU in order to make equal pay a reality.
“[The women’s team] felt uncomfortable that the money had to be taken from the men’s team,” he said.
“We didn’t want to talk with the DBU if the only way to give the women more money, would be by deducting it from the men’s team.”
“That's not how you create equality,” he added.
A new deal was then brokered by players such as Andreas Christensen, Thomas Delaney, Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Simon Kjaer and Kasper Schmeichel, who Hansen said were “very happy” on the conclusion of the talks, which went “smoothly and quickly.”
The agreement will see the men’s and the women’s players receive equal pay for national team appearances, increased insurance coverage for the women's team and the implementation of a development fund. It will also see the creation of a clubhouse for the men’s, women’s and youth teams.
Such improvements would, in part, be paid for by the men’s team upon qualification for tournaments like the World Cup or Euros, with the DBU supporting them and allocating money towards the development fund which could be drawn upon for future advancements in conditions for the teams.
"This was what they wanted,” Hansen said, speaking on behalf of the men’s players on the arrangements.
“It showed that they are taking the responsibility.
“They liked the idea of providing other national teams with better opportunities and conditions."
Similar thoughts were in fact echoed by the women’s players he said.
“They are happy that the male players are helping them, however they agree that the money should not come from the men’s team, but from the DBU,” he said.
“They are looking forward to the negotiations with the football association, which are due to start after this year’s summer.”
