Andreas Schjelderup Receives Suspended Sentence for Sharing Inappropriate Material
Norwegian international Andreas Schjelderup has been sentenced to two weeks in prison, suspended for two years, by a Danish court after being found guilty of sharing sexual material involving two minors.
The 21-year-old Benfica winger explained in court that he received a 27-second video via Snapchat and subsequently shared it with a group chat of four friends, deleting it once he recognized its inappropriate content.
At the time of the incident, Schjelderup was 19 years old and playing for the Danish Superliga club Nordsjaelland. He pleaded guilty and cooperated fully with the police investigation.
He will only serve the suspended sentence if he commits another offense within the next 12 months. The prosecution had sought a minimum of 20 days in prison for Schjelderup.
His lawyer, Anders Nemeth, stated that the defense team would take time to consider whether to appeal the ruling.
Rui Costa, the president of Portuguese club Benfica, has previously expressed the club's support for Schjelderup.
In an Instagram statement on November 8, Schjelderup apologized and acknowledged his actions as a "stupid mistake." He expressed his readiness to accept the consequences and urged others not to view or share harmful or offensive content.
He emphasized that the offense does not reflect his character or values.
Schjelderup, who has earned eight caps for Norway, was an unused substitute in Norway's recent 4-1 victory over Italy in Milan, a match that secured their qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.