Benni McCarthy addresses THOSE fat-shaming comments

South African soccer star Benni McCarthy has revisited the moment a UK sports columnist fat-shamed him during his time playing in the Premier League.

The Hanover Park-born football hero has written his first memoir, titled Benni, in which he documents the highs and lows of his career.

The biography, which features a special foreword by world-famous coach Jose Mourinho –  is officially on bookshelves and available online.

BENNI MCCARTHY REVISITS FAT-SHAMING COMMENTS BY UK JOURNO

In his first literary offering, Benni McCarthy details his rise from competing in “gangster football” in the Cape Flats to playing abroad in international clubs.

The retired soccer star also touched on his contentious relationship with the South African Football Association (SAFA) and how this affected his performances at Bafana Bafana. 

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A post shared by Benni McCarthy (@bennimac17)

During his international career, Benni played for clubs like Ajax Amsterdam, Portugal’s Celta Vigo, Spain’s Porto, and the UK’s Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United.

In 2010, after signing with West Ham, Benni suffered what would become a career-altering injury.  After a torn knee ligament ruled him out of playing and training, the Hanover Park star quickly picked up weight.

Benni – who claimed he had maintained his weight around 80kgs since professionally playing – soon found himself “four to five kilos overweight and struggling to get into the team, who were fighting for potential relegation”.

With the team faring poorly and Benni in poor forrm – having been fined repeatedly for piling on weight – critics were soon on his case.

TV personality and West Ham vice-chairperson Karren Brady infamously wrote a column in the Sun berating Benni’s weight gain.

Her scathing comments included the lines: “Rather than the super scorer we hoped for, we acquired a super size, a player devoted to filling his belly more than filling the net. 

“As time went by, he grew bigger and bigger, and although in time he made a great effort to slim down, he’d passed the waistline of no return. “

In his memoir, Benni said of the verbal attack: “A lot of hurtful, frankly unnecessary stuff, but when the newspapers asked me for my reaction, I called her ‘the devil with t*ts,’ and that certainly grabbed the headlines.

“In fact, it cost me about 100 00) pounds because the mutual termination contract had a clause in it that I could not say anything disparaging about the club, and at that stage, they hadn’t paid the termination in full”.

Over the years, Benni and Karren would continue to exchange jabs in the media.

Wasn't it "Devil with tits" as told by fat Benni Mccarthy?!

🤣 pic.twitter.com/ArLi7gYDp5

— West Ham Views (@WestHamViews09) April 20, 2024

CLASH WITH CHIEFS TOO

It wasn’t the first condescending comment Benni McCarthy took offence to.

After his return to South Africa in 2011 and the termination of his contract with West Ham, Benni had a brush with Kaizer Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung.

Through the media, Motaung had publicly scoffed at Amakhosi signing Benni as its next striker, stating: “Chiefs sign big fishes, not fishes who cannot swim anymore.”

At the time, Benni was 33 years old and in his own words, was  “far from finished.”

He wrote in his biography: “Maybe it was a quip, but that kind of talk always gets my blood boiling, and my character is such that the first thing I think of then is ‘I’ll show you who is a has-been and who is not.”

Motaung’s comment spurred Benni on to sign with rival club, Orlando Pirates.

Benni would go on to have the last laugh in a series of memorable victories against Kaizer Chiefs.

Of one in particular, he wrote: “It was probably one of the easiest derbies that Pirates had ever won, and when Bobby Motaung approached me afterwards, I told him in no uncertain terms, ‘As long as I’m playing for Pirates, Chiefs are never going to beat us. You said an old fish can’t swim, I’ll show you”.

Motaung later apologised. 

Playing at Pirates also came with its set of challenges, with incoming coaches labelling him as the “fat guy”.

He shared: “That’s no joke for me. There should always bea level of respect between people in the game”.

After a 17-year professional career, Benni McCarthy officially retired from playing all football in 2013.