Norway’s national team footballer Andreas Schjelderup faces charges after he admitted to sharing illegal video involving minors in an official statement on his official Instagram account on Saturday, November 8. The 21-year-old, who plays for Benfica, stated that he made a “stupid mistake” while playing for Danish Superliga side Nordsjaelland a couple of years ago during his teenage days.
In his official statement shared in a string of Instagram stories, Andreas Schjelderup remarked that he got the illegal video from somewhere before sharing it with a friend without watching the full content of it, consuming only a few seconds of it. He deleted it immediately after learning about the content of it apart from revealing that it had “what appeared
to be two young men in an old-quality video.”
Andreas Schjelderup's admission came after he was named in Norway's squad in World Cup Qualifiers
Andreas Schjelderup’s admission about the illegal video comes just after he was added to Norway’s 24-member squad for the upcoming two World Cup Qualifier matches against Estonia and Italy. If Norway, who also have world-class striker Erling Haaland, manage to win their final two qualifying matches then they will reach the FIFA World Cup finals for the first-time since 1998.
He wrote on Instagram, “What I did in Denmark at that time was illegal and not OK. I will take full responsibility for it. I would like to apologise first and foremost to those affected by the video. Then to my friends, family, employers, country and all the fans I have disappointed. I wish I could go back in time and change my mistake. I have never done anything illegal before, or been involved with the police, so I have been in shock for a long time while this has been going on.”
The Norwegian also stated that he is ready to face the consequences of his mistake apart from mentioning that “the offence I will be convicted for does not reflect on who I am as a person and what I stand for.”
