Norway international Andreas Schjelderup has said he expects to be convicted for illegally sharing a video.
In a statement on Instagram on Saturday, the 21-year-old Benfica winger revealed that he is likely to receive a suspended sentence “in the near future” for making “a stupid mistake” when he was 19 and playing for Danish Superliga side Nordsjaelland.
His admission followed reports in the Danish media alleging that an unnamed footballer had been charged with an offence which concerns possession or sharing of sexual material which features people under the age of 18, and is due to appear in court for sentencing this month.
Schjelderup, who has been included in the Norway squad for this week’s World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Italy, said he had co-operated with the Danish police investigation since being contacted earlier this year and is “ready to face the consequences”.
He claimed he forwarded a “short video” to a friend “without thinking”, and had only watched the first few seconds and not what the footage “developed into”.
“What I did in Denmark at that time was illegal and not OK. I will take full responsibility for it,” he wrote.
“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.”
Schjelderup said he hoped others could learn from his situation, and urged people not to “watch or spread videos with harmful or offensive content”.
“The offence I will be convicted for does not reflect on who I am as a person and what I stand for,” he added.
Norway manager Stale Solbakken acknowledged to Norwegian outlet VG that Schjelderup had done “an incredibly foolish thing” but said the national team would “need to take good care of him” during this week’s camp.
“He has admitted the incident that took place two years ago and is taking responsibility for his actions,” Solbakken said on Saturday.
“I have full confidence that he has learned from this and that he will never do anything like it again.
“This is a tough situation for Andreas, so we need to take good care of him when he joins the team on Monday.”
Norway are on the verge of qualifying for a World Cup for the first time since 1998, with Solbakken’s side leading their qualifying group by three points with two matches remaining.
Schjelderup said he had hoped to confess after this week’s matches to avoid an “unneeded distraction” but “that is not possible anymore”.
The Athletic has contacted Danish police and Denmark’s Prosecution Service for comment.