Panting for it! Bendtner slammed with £80k fine and ban in flash-for-cash crackdown

UEFA shows priorities – 5x bigger fine for undermining commercial relationships than Porto got for hurling race-hate chants at Mario Balotelli

Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner has been banned for one competitive fixture and fined 100,000 euros (just over £80,000) by UEFA after he lowered his shorts after scoring in the Euro 2012 clash with Portugal.

The fine dwarfs the approx £16,000 that Porto were fined last season when their fans subjected Manchester City and Mario Balotelli to a barrage of race-hate monkey chants.

Bendtner, 24, was found guilty of improper conduct by European football's governing body after he revealed the logo of a betting company on his underpants in the match on June 13.

It was the Arsenal man's second goal of the contest, but Portugal went on to win the game 3-2.

When questioned afterwards about the incident, Bendtner, who spent last season on loan at Sunderland, said: "It is just a pair of lucky boxer shorts that I used in the first game as well and have used before the tournament.

"I didn't know I was breaking any rules but I am aware of that now."

UEFA took a dim view, however, and Bendtner is now set to miss Denmark's opening game in World Cup 2014 qualifying. The player has three days to lodge an appeal.

Reaction to the punishment has drawn attention to the discrepancy between how UEFA have moved to squash unregulated 'commercial' advertising, and how the governing body has reacted to issues of hooliganism and racism, including at Euro 2012.

Croatia were last week fined approx £20,000 over the behaviour of their fans at their opening Euro 2012 game against Republic of Ireland, which included a pitch invasion, missiles and fireworks.

Russia were fined approx £97,000 for a catalogue of brutal violence and hooliganism involving their fans before during and after their game against Poland.