He is playing in the World Cup qualifiers with Norway
National player admits illegal act – suspended sentence threatened
November 9, 2025 – 9:35 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
He is under contract with Benfica and is a Norwegian international. But a serious mistake could have far-reaching consequences for Andreas Schjelderup.
He is under contract with Benfica Lisbon and has already played 60 games for the club. Despite his young age, the Norwegian national player Andreas Schjelderup is already one of the top performers in the Portuguese first division club. But now the 21-year-old has spoken out about a topic that has nothing to do with football. The winger admits to a serious mistake – with far-reaching consequences.
On Instagram, the young player began his story by saying: “I want to be open with all of you about a stupid mistake I made about two years ago. I take full responsibility for what happened and what I did, but it’s important to me that you know the context of this episode.”
Schjelderup then reported that he had lived in Denmark for around two years. At that time he was still playing for the Danish club Nordsjaelland. During this time, he and a friend repeatedly sent each other videos of how young people would do this. However, he didn’t think once when he forwarded a video – of which he said he had only seen the first seconds – to a friend.
“My friend, who saw it a few seconds later, immediately reminded me that it was of course illegal to send it, so I deleted it immediately,” continued Andreas Schjelderup. He now confessed: “Unfortunately at that moment I didn’t think about the consequences and that it might be illegal to share it.”
The offensive player emphasized: “My intention was not to spread anything or harm those involved.” This is a one-off error. The case will be heard in the Copenhagen City Court, according to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK and BT.
The player himself said that the Danish police contacted him about the incident and he told the truth. “I have been charged with this offense for which I will likely be convicted in the near future and will most likely receive a suspended sentence.”