Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel started for Denmark in the two UEFA Nations League games against Portugal in this international break.
Portugal came from behind to eliminate Denmark in extra time in Lisbon earlier this week. Ekstra Bladet journalist Anders Olsen was critical of the Celtic star’s performance in the national team’s latest defeat.
Olsen said the 38-year-old’s age isn’t the problem, but his weight is and said he punched the ball away like a ‘polio-stricken child’.
The Players’ Football Association in Denmark found it distasteful and their director Michael Sahl Hansen was critical of Olsen for drawing parallels to a serious illness and fat-shaming the Celtic stopper. The PFA have also requested an apology from the journalist.
Tipsbladet got in touch with Olsen for his reaction to the response from the PFA. He has made it clear that he won’t apologise for his comments about the Denmark international.
“Absolutely not. I couldn’t think of writing something that I would have to apologise for the next day. I’m not that impulsive,” he said.
“I’m surprised. No one is discussing my point, there’s only talk about rhetoric. I think it’s getting a bit silly. I don’t think Kasper Schmeichel needs the Players’ Association’s defence. He’s not made of glass.”
Tipsbladet pointed out it’s distasteful to use a serious illness to criticise the national team stopper. With regards to the ‘polio-stricken child’ comment, the journalist is of the belief he’s been misunderstood.
“I think people deliberately misunderstand what I write. I’m not writing that he is a polio-stricken child. I’m trying to describe the situation where he punches a ball,” Olsen explained.
“If you deliberately want to misunderstand what it says. I really have a hard time seeing that. It’s in no way a mockery of polio-stricken children. That’s not the intention. I could just as well have written it in all sorts of other ways, that he was weak. There’s too little criticism, and people don’t say it like it is. That’s what I’ve tried.
On the fat-shaming remark, Olsen said: “I didn’t realise that being fat was derogatory. In my mind, being fat means having a few extra kilos on your side. I think that’s completely legitimate to point that out. In my mind, it’s really not derogatory. That’s the most accurate word to use. For example, I don’t think he’s fat. That would be an exaggeration.”
The Ekstra Bladet reporter concluded the interview by stating that he won’t apologise to the Celtic man or the PFA.
“The odds for an apology are long. It won’t be in my lifetime. Is it the Players’ Association that I have to apologise to or what?” Olsen concluded.
