Ex-Arsenal striker drops appeal against jail sentence

Joe Williams

Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner has dropped his appeal against a 50-day jail sentence for assaulting a taxi driver.

The move by the 30-year-old makes the judgement final but his current club, Rosenborg, have pledged to stand by him.

Bendtner was found guilty of assaulting a taxi driver in Copenhagen in September. The Denmark international admitted the charge but said he had acted in self-defence.

In a statement, his Norwegian club said: “Nicklas has regretted the incident and he is taking his sentence.

“If we make mistakes, it is important that we take responsibility for our actions.

“Nicklas has his employment relationship with Rosenborg FC and the enforceable verdict from Denmark does not change that.”

Bendtner began his career at Arsenal and scored 45 goals in 171 games for the Gunners.

He also had spells on loan with Birmingham, Sunderland and Juventus before joining Wolfsburg in 2014.

Bendtner returned to English football with Nottingham Forest in 2016 but did not see out a full season before moving to Rosenborg.

His hopes of making the Denmark squad for this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia were ended due to injury.