Morten Bødskov, the former justice minister, was assaulted while watching a Euro 2016 match in Copenhagen on Tuesday night.

Police spokesman Ove Larsen said that Bødskov was at an outdoor screening of the Iceland-Portugal match at Islands Brygge when he was assaulted by a young man in what appeared to be a politically-motivated attack.

The former minister, who is a current MP, was drinking a beer with two friends when a young man came up and asked him if he was the former justice minister. When Bødskov acknowledged that he was, the man asked him a few more questions and then “stood up and punched me hard in the temple” Bødskov wrote on Facebook.

“I have a headache and my jaw is slightly bruised,” Bødskov told Ekstra Bladet.

“I am in shock. I have spoken with many people before but never experienced this.”

Look for the cross
Police are looking for a suspect in his 20s with light hair and a tattoo of a cross on his left arm. The case is being investigated as violence against a public person, which carries a maximum prison sentence of eight years, but could just warrant a fine.

PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen was quick to condemn the assault on one of his political rivals.

“In a democracy, it is crucial that everyone, especially our elected representatives, can speak up freely without having to look over their shoulders when they attend a nice evening of football,” said Rasmussen.