Players start media boycott as dispute with SFA rumbles on

The Scottish FA last night confirmed that the 23 players in the Scotland women’s squad are no longer co-operating with the media – including the SFA’S own in-house platforms.

It is understood the players are protesting at what they perceive as a lack of progress over talks on their terms and conditions when representing Scotland. The discussions started at the end of last year and are still ongoing, with Euro 2017 fast approaching.

An unspecified bonus has apparently been paid to the players for qualifying for the Netherlands tournament – but other key issues have yet to be resolved.

As with the 15 other Euro finalists, the SFA received a €300,000 payment from Uefa for qualifying. That rises to €500,000 if Anna Signeul’s side reach the quarter-finals – they play England in the opening group game in Utrecht on 19 July.

The players’ stance became evident at Falkirk Stadium on Thursday evening. They trained at the ground ahead of last night’s friendly against Romania, but refused to allow an agency photographer to take pictures of the session despite the SFA having sanctioned it. Similarly, no player appeared for the customary pre-match interviews with the broadcast and written media. The SFA website was also left without player input.

The players, along with PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart, pictured, who has been advising them, have taken a decision not to specify what improved conditions they want from the SFA. Nevertheless, it is believed that the dispute has comparisons with one involving the Republic of Ireland women’s team at the beginning of April.

Then, 14 members of the squad, led by captain Emma Byrne, held a press conference to outline a number of grievances – and the Football Association of Ireland’s refusal to discuss these with their representatives, PFA Ireland.

The players’ main requests were for a nominal match fee and reimbursement for lost earnings when representing Ireland. It was reported that the FAI agreed a package worth €100,000 per annum to the squad.

The SFA said last night that it was “disappointed” with the players’ stance and that it hoped to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.