Denmark’s male footballers have refused a salary increase for playing for the national side to gain their female counterparts equal basic pay, the players’ union said on Friday.

“The men’s team chose not to ask for a salary increase … to improve the conditions of the women’s team,” union spokesperson Magnus Hviid told AFP.

He welcomed “an extraordinary measure to help take this small step in the right direction”, but acknowledged there were “still more glass ceilings to break to ensure equal opportunities and conditions within national teams”.

Hviid said the action “obtained the same basic salary for the women’s national team and the men’s national team, as well as better insurance coverage for the women’s team”.

The agreement, signed at the end of May, provides for identical match bonuses for women and men during away matches.

However for the moment due to no bonus for home matches, there remains a disparity in the overall pay between the women’s and men’s national teams.

The Danish Football Federation (DBU) and the union have agreed to bring forward negotiations on a new deal for the women’s national team after the summer break.

Denmark are competing in Euro 2024 and are joint second in Group C after two draws against England and Slovenia.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have dropped eight places from 30th to 38th in the world based on FIFA’s latest rankings.

According to the list released on Thursday by the world football governing body, the three-time African champions have also moved two steps behind to the fifth-best team on the continent.

Nigeria’s current rating is due to uninspiring results in the just-concluded round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

In June, the Eagles drew 1-1 against South Africa in their fourth game of the qualifiers and lost 2-1 to the Benin Republic in the following match.

The team’s latest string of performances condemned Nigeria to fifth place in the qualification group, having previously drawn against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

The results also mounted pressure on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which announced it would appoint an “expatriate” technical adviser for the team.

Shortly after the NFF’s announcement, George Finidi resigned as the Super Eagles head coach after just two games in charge.

Morocco and Senegal maintained their lead as the best African teams, while Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire climbed to third and fourth on the continent.

Meanwhile, Argentina remained number one globally, with France and Belgium in second and third. Brazil leapfrogged England to fourth in the global rankings.

The next FIFA world ranking will be released on July 18, 2024.

Former Super Eagles coach Finidi George has reacted to Victor Osimhen’s recent, widely shared remarks on social media.

Osimhen went live on Instagram to deny claims made by some that he had staged an injury to be excluded from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The Napoli forward has not been involved in Super Eagles games since the AFCON final and has missed all the qualifying games.

The situation has caused a lot of stir on social media, which has led to several comments from fans and legends.

Osimhen’s rant has led Nigerian journalist Colins Udoh to look into the matter and ask for more clarification from Finidi.

Udoh contacted high-ranking officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), who denied rumours that Finidi had charged Osimhen with staging an injury.

He also revealed his chat with Finidi, who said that after the public commotion, he had been in touch with Osimhen.

Udoh said on Instagram, “So I called a couple of people who were at that meeting between Finidi, the NFF, and the minister to find out if what is alleged to have been said was actually said, and so these people are usually very, very senior and reliable people and I was told categorically that Finidi did not say the things he’s alleged to have said.

“He did not say he wasn’t going to beg Osimhen. He did not say that Osimhem was not committed. in fact, he did confirm when he was asked about Osimhen’s absence that he called him from Germany, and that’s why he was excused.

“It was when the issue of player’s commitment was raised; that’s why he said he would not beg anybody to play for the Super Eagles, but he did not mention any player by name, specifically

“And so, I also called Finidi himself to ask him if that was the case and he also confirmed to me that he never said any of those things.

“In fact, he corroborated what the other gentleman had told me and that he would have no reason to call out any player, whether in public or in private, and that he would address issues with the players themselves if there were any issues.

“And then, as soon as the video was brought to his attention, he said he reached out to Osimhen and let him know that one, he never said those things, and two, even if he had, Osimhen should have reached out to him first to find out if he did say, what he was alleged to have said, rather than going, public with such disrespect.

Finidi declared that he would have dealt with any problems in private and that he had never made such claims.