5 biggest fines received by footballers
Football is one of the most lucrative sports on the planet. Football players all over the world get paid enormous amounts of money and become global superstars.
Money and success often go hand in hand, but this success comes at a price as well. Players sometimes get carried away by fame and money and end up in situations that turn out to be disasters.
This is why clubs all over the globe have strict measures in place to try to keep their players in check. Among things like suspension, being left out of the squad and more, fines have been a key tool used by the clubs in such situations.
With mind-boggling wages, footballers also have to be ready to face massive fines. There have been several instances where players have stepped out of line and been swiftly punished.
On that note, let's now take a look at five footballers who have received the biggest fines:
#5 Romelu Lukaku: £325,000
Romelu Lukaku made his return to the Premier League at the start of the 2021-22 season, signing for Chelsea from Inter Milan. The Blues paid a club-record £97.5m fee for the Belgian striker.
Lukaku infamously gave an interview to Sky Sports Italia in December, in which he expressed his frustration with the Blues. He claimed he was unhappy with the system manager Thomas Tuchel used. He also mentioned his desire to return to Inter Milan in the future.
After this media fiasco, Chelsea handed Lukaku a hefty £325,000 fine. The interview angered Tuchel, who proceeded to exclude the striker from their 2-2 draw against Liverpool. Lukaku soon issued an apology and promised to give his full commitment to Chelsea.
Romelu Lukaku is not happy with how life back at Chelsea has been going! 😳 https://t.co/fz3Y2wdiXS
He was then brought back into the squad but he has been quite poor on the pitch.
Lukaku scored three goals in his first three games with Chelsea but has been relatively poor since then. He currently has five goals in 16 league appearances.
#4 Mario Balotelli: £340,000
Mario Balotelli is no stranger to controversy. The former Inter, Manchester City and Liverpool forward has had his fair share of disciplinary issues over the years that have earned him a bad reputation.
Balotelli was fined £340,000 for breaching Manchester City’s code of conduct in 2012. City punished the striker for missing training sessions and partying on the same day he was supposed to play.
Balotelli was initially irked by the fine and was about to appeal to a Premier League tribunal. However, fearing media backlash and the risk of losing his spot in the first team, the appeal was shortly withdrawn.
Apart from disciplinary issues off the pitch, Balotelli was hot-headed on the pitch as well. He accumulated quite a lot of cards and missed close to 20 percent of his team's games.
Balotelli currently plays for Adana Demirspor in the Turkish League. He was also recently included in the Italian national team by manager Roberto Mancini after a long absence.