Christian Eriksen and Kasper Schmeichel could miss Denmark vs Wales as sponsor dispute erupts

The Danish FA could face a lengthy Uefa ban if they fail to fufil the fixture

Christian Eriksen could miss Denmark's opening Uefa Nations League game due to a union dispute (PA)

Wales may take on a Denmark side missing its biggest names this week after a dispute erupted between the governing body and the players’ union over commercial rights.

The likes of Christian Eriksen, Kasper Schmeichel and Pierre-Emile Hojberg may be left out if the row is not resolved, with the players’ union Spillernforeningen rejecting a deal from the Danish FA [DBU] that needed to be signed by Sunday’s deadline.

The dispute is over a new commercial deal that the DBU hope will generate more funds for community-based projects, but players are unwilling to agree to the new terms due to their own private sponsorship deals that would be impacted.

The union requested that the DBU extend the current deal until October, which allows them to play the next two fixtures against Slovakia on Wednesday and Wales at the weekend. While the match with Slovakia is only an international friendly, the visit of Wales to Veres Park is their opening match in the new Uefa Nations League, leaving them at risk of fielding an understrength team and reducing their chances of making a winning start.

As a result, Denmark manager Age Hareide could be forced to select players from the Danish Superligen and the lower leagues, leaving out their Premier League stars and other star names across Europe.

"The parties disagree strongly about how it should be interpreted,” said DBU communications manager Jakob Hoyer.

"We cannot continue with an agreement where there are such big ambiguities and where we lose so much money."

The issue for Denmark is that they are at risk of facing a Uefa ban should they fail to fulfil the fixture. The DBU were warned by the European governing body following the women’s team’s decision to boycott a World Cup qualifier in 2017 due to an employment conditions dispute, and they have been told that should they cancel another match inside four years, they will be banned from European competition.

Schmeichel is another player who could miss the Wales match (Getty)

However, despite the threat of European expulsion, the DBU have no intention of renegotiating the deal so close to their international fixtures.

"We do not want to negotiate so close to international matches,” Hoyer added.

"That was what happened in 2015 and led to a historically poor national team agreement that has created so many problems."