Ben Hamilton
August 18th, 2021

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Danish coach Kasper Hjulmand is concerned about the effect foreign ownership could have on the Danish Superliga.

He recently told Forbes he does not like the idea of multiple club ownership and players constantly being switched around.

Shouldn’t be a plaything
“If it is based on the right values, understanding Danish values and you are an owner with respect and knowledge that can add value, then I don’t have a big problem with foreign ownership,” he told Forbes.

“But if it is just to have a toy to play with – something for very rich and wealthy owners – just to do something quick or give excitement in their daily life, it is a problem. And if they feed into a structure where they own more clubs and they can just put players around in this system, that is also a problem.”

Growing number in Superliga
Over the winter break, Mansour Group (UK/Egypt) invested in FC Nordsjaelland. Likewise, Superliga clubs FC Midtjylland (UK), SønderjyskE (US) and Vejle Boldklub (Moldova) all have foreign investors.

Randers, AC Horsens and AaB have also indicated they are open to it. 

National team players on the move – mostly to English clubs
National team defender Jannik Vestergaard has swapped English Premier League club Southampton for rival Leicester City, which he has joined on a three year contract for an undisclosed fee. Danish team-mate Joachim Andersen, who is also a centre back, has joined Crystal Palace on a five-year deal from Lyon for around 20 million euros. Meanwhile, Palace are also rumoured to be keen to sign another Danish international, striker Kasper Dolberg, from Nice, while fellow national squad forward Andreas Cornelius has left Parma to join Turkish outfit Trabzonspor. 

Brøndby still in the hunt for the Champions League group stage
Brøndby were just minutes away from claiming a famous draw at Red Bull Salzburg in the final round of Champions League qualification last night, but a late goal gives the Austrian outfit a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Denmark on August 25. Michael Uhre gave Brøndby a dream start with a goal after four minutes, but Salzburg hit back in the second half with goals in the 56th and 90th minutes to win the tie 2-1. Brøndby last qualified for the Champions League group stage in 1998. 

Top handball talent on his way to German outfit next summer
Danish handball star Mathias Gidsel, who was named MVP at the 2020 Olympics, is leaving GOG to join German outfit Füchse Berlin in the summer of 2022. The 22-year-old has signed a three-year contract. Mikkel Hansen, the top scorer at the Olympics with 61 goals, was the only other Dane to make the all-star team in which the champions France had four players.  

Danish tennis player rises to his highest ever ranking
Tennis player Holger Rune, 18, is now number 162 in the world following yet another Challenger tournament victory – this time in San Marino on Sunday. At the beginning of the year, he stood at number 474. His latest victory resulted in him rising 29 places. The world’s best Scandinavian player is Norway’s Casper Ruud who stands at number 11. Sweden’s top player, Mikael Ymer, is world number 92. 

Denmark hopeful ahead of Paralympic Games
Denmark is targeting five to seven medals at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, according to the DIF sports confederation. Denmark’s best hopes rest with long jumper Daniel Wagner and table tennis player Peter Rosenmeier. In total, Denmark’s team is 25 strong, competing in eight sports: wheelchair rugby (12), athletics (4), dressage (4), badminton (1), table tennis (1), cycling (1), swimming (1) and taekwondo (1). In 2016 at Rio, Denmark won seven medals, at London five, and at Beijing nine. The games begin on August 24 and continue until September 5, more or less using the same venues as the Olympics, although maybe the lifting of restrictions might enable more people to watch them live! 

Beat you Dad! Kevin Magnussen sets team’s fastest lap ahead of Le Mans 
Kevin Magnussen, who stepped down from Formula 1 last season, will compete in Le Mans this weekend for the first time. Earlier this year he joined Chip Ganassi Racing to compete in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, so Le Mans is a one-off in which he will be driving a High Class Racing-run Oreca 07 LMP2 in the LMP2 class, racing for a team that also includes his father Jan and Anders Fjordbach, another Dane. Last Sunday, the 28-year-old clocked his team’s fastest laps on the Circuit de la Sarthe on the official test day – an experience he described as “really cool”. In related news, Magnussen has signed a deal with Sixt Denmark to become one of its brand ambassadors.

English referee recalls decisive action falling Eriksen collapse
Anthony Taylor, the 42-year-old English referee in charge of the Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland at Parken in which Christian Eriksen collapsed with a cardiac arrest, has told the BBC how he knew straightaway there was something seriously wrong. “Christian was on his own. The only thing that was close to him was a bouncing ball which hit his knee. I was actually looking directly at him when he fell over. I could see his face as he fell. I knew straightaway something was wrong because of how his face looked and how he fell to the floor. That is what concerned me the most.” However, he refuses to take absolute credit for stopping the game so quickly. “The real heroes on that night were the Danish captain [Simon Kjær] and the medics who performed the initial CPR and defibrillation,” he said.

E-sports company to build major epicentre in Brøndby
Blast has raised 100 million kroner from investors and will use some of it to build a new studio for global e-sports in Priorparken in Brøndby – a bid to really put Denmark on the e-sports map internationally. Blast already organises Counter-Strike tournaments all over the world – the same game that Danish team Astralis is so successful at – and its next tournament is scheduled to take place at Royal Arena in November. “We have closed a large financing round with a number of prominent investors, which among other things will be used for an investment in building a studio where we will produce all our e-sports formats from,” confirmed Nick Skovsen, the COO of Blast. Blast and Astralis used to have the same owner, RFRSH Entertainment, but Astralis was bought out by the team itself in 2019.  Astralis recently launched its own centre for gaming, entertainment and education, Astralis Nexus, at Tivoli, but the proposed studio in Brøndby will be much larger. 

Denmark slip out of top ten despite strong Euros showing
Despite making the semi-finals of Euro 2020, Denmark slipped out of the FIFA World Rankings top ten list to stand at 11th. The ranking confirms Denmark as the seventh best side in Europe. Belgium continues to top the rankings ahead of Brazil, France, England and Italy. 

Young Belgian wins Danmark Rundt
Remco Evenepoel, a young Belgian cyclist, won Danmark Rundt over the weekend, holding on to his lead with a solid ride in the final stage: a 10.8km time trial in Frederiksberg. The 21-year-old previously won the Tour of Belgium in June.

Schmeichel takes over captainship at Leicester City
Kasper Schmeichel is now officially the full-time captain of Leicester City following the departure of Wes Morgan and one of his first tasks was to lift the Charity Shield following his side’s unexpected defeat of Manchester City on August 7. Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed Schmeichel as “a fabulous ambassador”. Since joining in 2011, he has made 427 appearances for the club. 

Eriksen rumour that he might return in five months quashed
Christian Eriksen recently visited his club Inter, but his agent denies he told team-mates he might return to action in five months’ time. Previously, Inter boss Simone Inzaghi said he would be welcomed back with “open arms”, addressing fears he might not be able to play in Serie A due to strict rules concerning players with defibrillator implants.