Northern Ireland cancel training in Croatia over pitch quality

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.

Both the Croatian FA and Uefa have been approached for a response.

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.”

Sources within the squad described it as a ‘logistically challenging’ few days and said the pitches provided for training were inadequate.

BBC Sport was also told lighting was not switched on in time for the start of the team’s training session on Thursday, the evening before the first leg.