Ex-South Africa striker Benni McCarthy has been fined £200 000.00 for failing to reach fitness targets again by his English Premier League club West Ham United.

McCarthy was deemed too large for a Premier League player, especially for a club fighting relegation, and was ordered to work on his fitness. Failure to meet his target would result in hefty financial penalties.

The former SA national team player did meet his target but was left out of the 25-man West Ham squad for the second half of the season.

Hammers boss Avram Grant believes the weight loss has slowed the striker. “He reached the targets but I think that affected his movement,” said Grant.

“He’s a very good player and one of the best finishers in training that I have ever seen, and I have had some good players. But now we need players with movement and the advantage of being quick, and we have others.”

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Former Bafana (South African) striker Benni McCarthy ia at war with West Ham United.

The 33-year-old striker has been left out of the Hammers 25-man squad for the rest of the Premier League season, meaning he is only free to play in FA Cup matches.

Furthermore, the struggling East London club has attempted to offer McCarthy a £1 million pay-off to voluntarily end his contract with the club.

But McCarthy, who stands to earn more than £2.7 million if he sees out the remaining 18-months of his Hammers contract, has rejected the club’s offer.

Benni’s Hammers tenure has been an abject failure. He has been cursed with fitness problems, and was lambasted by the club for being overweight.

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Bafana Bafana have axed their leading point scorer Benni McCarthy from the provisional 30-man squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Record Bafana Bafana (The Boys) scorer McCarthy had been expected to get the nod from Brazil-born coach Joel Santana despite shunning recent friendlies against Norway and Portugal.

Blackburn Rovers striker McCarthy, scorer of 31 goals for South Africa, claimed he was injured despite being cleared to play by medical staff at the English Premiership strugglers.

Santana and various predecessors have treated McCarthy with kid gloves despite a controversial national team career since bursting into the limelight at the 1998 African Nations Cup.

McCarthy becomes available and unavailable for the national squad with alarmingly frequency, although the failure of South Africa to produce world-class strikers sometimes leaves coaches with no option but to pick him.

“I’m happy the coach has finally made this decision regarding McCarthy,” said Gordon Igesund, who has guided numerous big and small South African clubs to the Premiership title.

He told the Kickoff football magazine website: “This is a good lesson that there is no player bigger than the country and that everyone deserves the same treatment.

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