2018 Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg will not play at the World Cup in France this summer, according to her head coach.
The Lyon striker has taken a stand over what she perceives as a lack of respect for female players in her home country of Norway.
The 23-year-old has not played for Norway since they crashed out of the European Championships in 2017 without even scoring a goal.
Head coach Martin Sjogren insisted he respected the decision, but admitted he would now be turning his attention to other players.
“We tried to solve it, we had meetings, but she decided not to play,” he said.
Sjogren added to BBC World Services: “As a coach, you need to focus on the players who want to be a part of the team and Ada doesn’t.
“We respect that and we have been working hard with the other players and they have been doing a great job.”
Hegerberg, a three-time Champions League winner, made her decision just months before the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) and the nation’s player’ association (NISO) signed an historic equal pay agreement.
Despite this resolution, the first-ever female Ballon d’Or winner maintained it was an easy decision for her to walk away from the national team.
The inaugural winner should have enjoyed her historic moment in the limelight at the glitzy award ceremony last year, but was thrust into controversy when she was asked if she knew how to twerk on stage.
Martin Solveig, a French DJ hosting the event in Paris, sparked a sexism row after making the comment as Hegerberg was named the world’s best female footballer.
The ceremony marked the first time a separate women’s trophy has been awarded since the Ballon d’Or’s inception in 1956.
Before Solveig’s comment, Norwegian international Hegerberg described the night as a dream come true.
She said: “It feels like a victory for, taking a good step in the right direction for the women’s football. This is a huge part they’ve done, France Football, and it’s positive for all parts.
“We need help to develop women’s football and I think this is a really positive announcement.
“We’re in 2018 and we’ve got a historical women’s Ballon d’Or, so I feel very proud. It’s not that often that I use the word ‘proud’, but today I am really proud to be a part of it.
“Sometimes you have episodes or situations where you feel like ‘damn, we’re in such a man(‘s) world’.
“But at the same time, I’ve never looked at myself different from a man’s footballer. I’ve always felt the same: I work hard to try to achieve my dreams like any other girl out there and, that’s the way we have to look at it.”