NI cancel training in Croatia over pitch quality
Northern Ireland Women qualified for their first major tournament at Euro 2022
- Published
Northern Ireland cancelled a training session on Saturday because they were unhappy with facilities provided by the Croatian Football Association.
It came following their 1-1 draw with Croatia on Friday in the first leg of their Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-off.
Tanya Oxtoby's side were due to train in Croatia before flying back to prepare for the second leg in Belfast on Tuesday (19:00 GMT).
A formal complaint has not yet been made to Uefa by Northern Ireland.
In her post-match media conference on Friday, Oxtoby said there had been a lack of "professional courtesy" shown by their hosts.
"I'm really proud of the playing group because I think this week has been really difficult in terms of getting professional courtesy," she told BBC Sport NI.
"I'm glad we're going back on equal footing in the second leg, I'm really looking forward to playing at Windsor Park where we can exert ourselves on the game."
The Croatian FA told BBC Sport they "try to make every visiting team's stay in Croatia pleasant" and insist they "did the same with the Northern Ireland team".
Sources within the NI squad described it as a 'logistically challenging' few days and said the pitches provided for training were inadequate.
The teams played out the 1-1 draw at the Gradski Stadion Varteks, home of NK Varazdin, who compete in the Croatian men's top division.
The Croatian FA said they are "not responsibile" for providing training pitches but "do their best to provide guests with the best available options" and that it was Northern Ireland's decision to train on the pitch in Samobor.
BBC Sport was also told lighting was not switched on in time for the start of the Northern Ireland's training session on Thursday, the evening before the first leg.
This was "due to technical reasons", said the Croatian FA, but was resolved in order for the Northern Ireland team to carry out a full training session.
"We cannot agree that there was a lack of 'professional courtesy' on the part of [the Croatian FA] because we always try to meet our guests and ensure adequate conditions, which we did this time as well," the Croatian FA added.