Former Premier League star and Arsenal royalty Nicklas Bendtner was banned and received a huge fine after wearing a pair of ‘lucky’ pants during Euro 2012
Arsenal cult hero Nicklas Bendtner was banned and slapped with a huge fine after a cheeky stunt backfired.
Bendtner joined the Gunners from his native Denmark as a teenager and soon gained a reputation for being a maverick, as he found himself at the centre of controversies on and off the pitch.
But one of the most notorious of all came at Euro 2012 when he scored Denmark’s second goal in a 3-2 defeat against Portugal. After finding the back of the net, Bendtner pulled up his shirt and dropped his shorts slightly to reveal a green pair of boxers with betting firm Paddy Power written on the waistband.
Having turned 37 on Thursday, the incident is still spoken about after Bendtner was banned for one competitive international game and fined €100,000 (£80,000). The enormous fine saw Paddy Power step in and pay the sum themselves.
A spokesperson from Paddy Power said at the time: “We are appalled with the severity of Nicklas Bendtner’s fine for displaying Paddy Power on the waistband of his lucky underpants.
“This is a hysterical and deeply cynical move by UEFA, dictated by pure commercialism, and is a far greater penalty than recent UEFA fans for far more serious incidents. We will be contacting Mr Bendtner to offer our full support in his appeal.”
In a separate statement, Paddy Power continued: “We pride ourselves on listening to our customers and what we heard loud and clear was that Nicklas Bendtner should not suffer as a result of UEFA’s double standards.
“We don’t believe that Nicklas should be penalised for nothing more serious than wearing lucky underpants, which in fairness was only a bit of fun.”
Bendtner also addressed the situation that got hugely out of hand, explaining after learning of his punishment, “It is just a pair of lucky boxer shorts that I used in the first game as well and have used before the tournament. I didn’t know I was breaking any rules, but I am aware of that now.”
The striker remained at Arsenal for a further two years, which were mainly spent on loan, before he returned to England with a short stint at Nottingham Forest in the Championship. Bendtner ended his career in 2021 after playing for his boyhood FC Copenhagen and fourth-tier Tarnby FF with a number of his close friends.