Benni McCarthy faces the dubious honour of entering the Guinness Book of Records as the first major soccer player facing a club fine of up to R2-million for being too fat
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Beefy former Bafana Bafana star Benni McCarthy was "banished" from the West Ham squad for Saturday's opening 3-0 Premier League defeat against Aston Villa.
Although not expected to be included in the starting line-up against Villa after club chairman David Sullivan had announced that McCarthy faced an approximate R400,000 fine over each of the next five weeks if he did not shed a kilogram of weight during each of the seven-day periods, it was still speculated McCarthy might find a place on the substitute's bench in view of the Hammers finding themselves faced with a number of injuries.
McCarthy, however, did not as much as feature among the seven listed substitutes.
The move signals that West Ham clearly means business about trimming the weight of a player - who cost them R25-million in a transfer from Blackburn Rovers at the start of the year, but has provided the London club with no compensation for their outlay thus far.
Bafana's all-time leading scorer, however, remains insistent that he will accept all the jibes about his weight and diminished fitness as motivation and not only lose the required five kilograms over the next five weeks, but also kick-start his becalmed career at West Ham in the process.
The road back, nevertheless, for the player who turns 33 in November, will be difficult to climb - loss of weight or not.
West Ham tells Benni: Don’t eat ice cream or cakes & don't drink wine
West Ham United owner David Sullivan announced ahead of the weekend match that McCarthy must lose weight.
He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "Benni has been given a serious weight-loss programme and if he doesn't lose the weight we will be fining him.
"We are not being unrealistic. We've given him a target of losing a kilo (2,2 pounds) a week.
"He has to lose five or six more kilos.
"He is training very hard so he must be eating or drinking something very wrong. Short of spending 24 hours with him, we have to assume that," Sullivan said.
"It's like a jockey turning up overweight. He can't ride a horse and no one is going to pay him.
"I think we are fully within our rights to say 'you are not honouring your side of the contract'.
"You expect him to turn up in a state to be a footballer.
"We are not starving him. It's just don’t eat ice cream, don't eat cakes, don't drink wine."
Beefy Benni banished - even from the substitute's bench
Benni McCarthy faces the dubious honour of entering the Guinness Book of Records as the first major soccer player facing a club fine of up to R2-million for being too fat
READ MORE...
Beefy former Bafana Bafana star Benni McCarthy was "banished" from the West Ham squad for Saturday's opening 3-0 Premier League defeat against Aston Villa.
Although not expected to be included in the starting line-up against Villa after club chairman David Sullivan had announced that McCarthy faced an approximate R400,000 fine over each of the next five weeks if he did not shed a kilogram of weight during each of the seven-day periods, it was still speculated McCarthy might find a place on the substitute's bench in view of the Hammers finding themselves faced with a number of injuries.
McCarthy, however, did not as much as feature among the seven listed substitutes.
The move signals that West Ham clearly means business about trimming the weight of a player - who cost them R25-million in a transfer from Blackburn Rovers at the start of the year, but has provided the London club with no compensation for their outlay thus far.
Bafana's all-time leading scorer, however, remains insistent that he will accept all the jibes about his weight and diminished fitness as motivation and not only lose the required five kilograms over the next five weeks, but also kick-start his becalmed career at West Ham in the process.
The road back, nevertheless, for the player who turns 33 in November, will be difficult to climb - loss of weight or not.
West Ham tells Benni: Don’t eat ice cream or cakes & don't drink wine
West Ham United owner David Sullivan announced ahead of the weekend match that McCarthy must lose weight.
He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "Benni has been given a serious weight-loss programme and if he doesn't lose the weight we will be fining him.
"We are not being unrealistic. We've given him a target of losing a kilo (2,2 pounds) a week.
"He has to lose five or six more kilos.
"He is training very hard so he must be eating or drinking something very wrong. Short of spending 24 hours with him, we have to assume that," Sullivan said.
"It's like a jockey turning up overweight. He can't ride a horse and no one is going to pay him.
"I think we are fully within our rights to say 'you are not honouring your side of the contract'.
"You expect him to turn up in a state to be a footballer.
"We are not starving him. It's just don’t eat ice cream, don't eat cakes, don't drink wine."
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