Soccer player pays $147,000 fine for DUI

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 6 (UPI) -- Danish soccer player Nicklas Bendtner was fined $147,000 for drunken driving, the largest fine for that offense in Denmark's history, officials said.

The athlete will also lose his driver's license for three years for the drunken-driving incident, which took place last weekend, The Copenhagen Post reported Wednesday.

Drunken-driving fines are calculated by dividing the offender's annual salary by 25, then multiplying it by their blood-alcohol level, which in Bendtner's case was 0.175 percent, the Post reported. Bendtner earns about $175,000 per month. He called his day in court Tuesday the worst day of his life.

Attorney Michael Juul Eriksen argued against the high fine.

"It's completely out of proportion that someone should pay $147,000 for something that would cost $874 for others," Eriksen said.