COPENHAGEN, January 6- Denmark pulled its national youth football team out of a tournament in Egypt on Thursday, fearing players could be targeted by extremists in the aftermath of a foiled plot to massacre staff at a Danish newspaper.Egyptian football chiefs had warned that the squad’s security could not be guaranteed after arrests were made in connection with plans to attack the Jyllands-Posten newspaper after the publication in September 2005 of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
"The Egyptian football federation informed us just after the announcement of the foiled attack that they would not be able to guarantee, because of the present circumstances, the security of our players," Danish football federation (DBU) spokesman Lars Berendt told AFP.
The team had been set to play friendly matches against the Egyptian and Chinese teams on the January 15-24 visit. But now the DBU plans instead to send a team to Dubai.
"The Danish secret services contacted us and said they had no knowledge of any potential threats against our team or our officials in Egypt," added Berendt.