Nicklas Bendtner has been fined €100,000 and given a 1 match suspension by UEFA for his goal celebration against Portugal last Wednesday.
The Danish striker displayed his lucky Paddy Power underpants after he scored the second goal against Portugal on Wednesday the 13th of June in Denmark’s 2nd group stake qualifier game at Euro 2012. A statement from UEFA.com 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. An appeal can be lodged against this decision within three days of the dispatch of the full written decision.”
Nicklas Bendtner is not expected to appeal against the €100,000 fine as well as 1 match suspension. The game he will miss will be against the Czech Republic which takes place in September this year. The question is whether Paddy Power will pay the €100,000 fine to Nicklas Bendtner? The fine is a small price to pay to have their name/brand brandished in front of 10s of millions of people. All these people watch football avidly so that is a key demographic for their sports betting product.
The images of Bendtner showing off his lucky underpants have been all over the TV and internet making the stunt a very clever and effective way of getting the Paddy Power brand out there. Paddy Power will of course deny they have paid Nicklas Bendtner to do this but I am sure the Arsenal striker will not be paying the fine. Speaking of Bendtner’s punishment, Paddy Power said the following via their Twitter account:
BREAKING: We (Paddy Power) are appalled with the severity of Nicklas Bendtner’s fine for wearing his luckypants recently! #UEFA #Euro2012
We will be contacting Mr Bendtner to offer him our full support for his #UEFA appeal. #euro2012 #paddypower
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