DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Frederik Bruhn, Rasmus Theis Madsen, Robert Jønsson and Tim Krarup Nielsen, HortenDahl Law Firm
the Danish Consumer Contracts Act restricts unfair liability exclusions in consumer agreements. Safety Measures Against Violence and Disorder To prevent violence and disorder at sporting events, Danish law imposes strict security regulations on event organisers, including the following. • Crowd control and stadium safety: compliance with the Danish Building Act, the Danish Act on Safety at Certain Sporting Events and local municipal safety permits, ensuring proper exits, crowd man - agement and emergency preparedness. • Hooliganism prevention: authorities maintain a national database of banned spectators, prevent - ing access for individuals who have been involved in previous disturbances. In addition, Superliga clubs have been granted permission to use facial recognition technology at stadiums for the purpose of excluding banned individuals as a preventa - tive measure against hooliganism. Clubs can be sanctioned under DBU’s disciplinary rules for fan misconduct, including failure to prevent or address discriminatory chants. • Law enforcement and private security: the Danish Police Act grants law enforcement the authority to intervene in stadium security, while clubs and event organisers must provide trained stewards to handle crowd control. The corporate structures of sports organisations vary depending on their level of professionalism, commer - cial focus and governance model. While professional sports clubs increasingly operate as public limited companies (A/S), many non-professional clubs con - tinue to be structured as associations. Professional Sports Clubs Most top-tier professional football clubs in Denmark operate under the public limited company (A/S) struc - ture, allowing for external investment and commercial decision-making. 4. Corporate Structures 4.1 Legal Forms of Sporting Bodies
The club licence, which enables the club to enter into professional player contracts, is issued by DBU to the mother club – ie, the association. The association often owns a part of the professional football company and grants a licence to said company, whereby the latter can operate its business. Thus, the corporate structure now generally applied makes it possible for a potential investor to achieve a controlling interest in the club, making it possible to carry out the necessary Within the last five years, there has been an increas - ingly strong interest from international investors target - ing Danish football clubs. For example, international investors have become shareholders in AC Horsens, Brøndby IF, Aalborg Boldklub and Silkeborg IF. Another interesting trend in Danish football is the intro - duction of multiple-club ownership, with some club owners also owning shares in football clubs in other countries – eg, FC Midtjylland (CD Mafra, Portugal) and Brøndby IF (Crystal Palace, England). decisions for the club. International Investors In November 2025, PARKEN Sport & Entertain - ment A/S, the parent company of F.C. Copenhagen, announced an investment in the Swedish football club Rosengård 1917. Non-Professional Sports Clubs and Grassroots Organisations Amateur and semi-professional sports clubs in Den - mark are typically structured as associations, which are non-profit organisations controlled by their mem - bers. This structure ensures that profits are reinvested into the club rather than distributed to shareholders. Associations benefit from favourable tax treatment Corporate governance rules in sports ensure financial transparency and prevent conflicts of interest. In Dan - ish football, specific regulations govern ownership, compliance and multiple club control. International Rules and access to public funding and grants. 4.2 Corporate Governance Codes Danish football clubs must adhere to the corporate governance regulations set out by FIFA and UEFA,
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