Irish bookmaking firm Paddy Power are as shocked and appalled as the rest of us at the fine handed down to Nicklas Bendtner over his little underwear stunt last week.
The ultra confident Danish striker exposed a pair of green boxers adorned with the Paddy Power name after scoring against Portugal last week and although he was publicly reprimanded for doing so, he probably expected nothing more than a slap of the wrist.
Instead, UEFA have come down hard, very hard on the not so Great Dane, fining him a massive €100,000 and issuing him with a one game competitive ban which means he will miss the opening game of Denmark’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
A statement issued by UEFA read: “Following the opening of disciplinary proceedings concerning the improper conduct of Denmark’s Nicklas Bendtner at the Uefa Euro 2012 Group B match against Portugal in Lviv on Wednesday 13 June, the Uefa control and disciplinary body has decided to suspend the player for one competitive fixture.
“This suspension applies to the next 2014 Fifa World Cup match, including the qualifying competition, for which Bendtner is eligible. The player has also been fined €100,000.”
Although the stunt was probably ill-advised and Bendtner’s explanation that they were simply a “lucky pair” of boxers that he had worn in the past didn’t really cut any dice, the punishment certainly doesn’t appear to fit the crime, especially when you consider the meagre fines dished out for offences of racism committed during the tournament.
Paddy Power have come out in support of Bendtner since his punishment was announced, saying: “We are appalled with the severity of Nicklas Bendtner’s fine for displaying Paddy Power on the waistband of his lucky underpants recently.
“This is a hysterical and deeply cynical move by UEFA dictated by pure commercialism and is a far greater penalty than recent UEFA fines for far more serious incidents.
“We will be contacting Mr Bendtner to offer him our full support for his appeal.”
Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and Paddy Power also took the opportunity to reveal that they have slashed the odds from 12/1 to 6/1 on UEFA landing another player with a six figure fine for displaying Paddy Power lucky underpants during the remainder of Euro 2012.
The chances of someone doing so appear slim, however, after Bendtner’s fine, which, pardon the pun, appears to us to be completely pants.
