Drink-fuelled West Ham stars ejected from nightclub
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Your support makes all the difference.Controversy continued to dog Britain's highly paid footballers yesterday after players from West Ham United were ejected from a London bar during their Christmas party.
The club said a member of its first-team squad would be disciplined for what it called a "minor incident". There were reports of drunken behaviour and one player urinating in the bar's VIP area. A senior member of the West Ham staff who had accompanied the players was forced to apologise to the manager of the Sugar Reef nightclub in the West End after bouncers told the group to leave.
"This minor incident marred an otherwise enjoyable evening. Whilst the players enjoyed the celebrations, they never compromised their position as professional footballers," a spokesman for the football club said.
"Once the internal disciplinary issue has been dealt with, West Ham will consider the matter closed and no further comment will be made."
The player, who has not been named, is to be dealt with in an "appropriate manner". The punishment is expected to be a fine of two weeks' wages.
The disturbance started after about 16 players went for a Christmas dinner at a West End restaurant on Tuesday evening. A number of them then went on to the bar, and were allowed into a private area away from other revellers.
The Italian player Paolo Di Canio and the French striker Frederic Kanoute are not believed to have been among the group. West Ham said some of the players probably had "quite a bit to drink". They are said to have run up a large bill. The trouble started after most of the players had left .
A spokesman for Sugar Reef declined to go into detail about the complaints. Jon Yantin said yesterday: "A group of guests was asked to leave. We felt their behaviour was inappropriate to the general atmosphere and enjoyment of our other guests.
"Whether it was a football team, a group of journalists or a pop star, if we feel their behaviour is inappropriate the management have the authority to ask them to leave."
An Italian barman, who worked at Sugar Reef, said that one of the players urinated twice in the VIP area.
"They were like a bunch of animals," he said. "They were incredibly rude to everyone, bar staff, bouncers and guests. If anyone else behaved the way they did, they would have been thrown out immediately. Because they are celebrities, no one said anything to them to begin with."
* Blackburn Rovers has started an inquiry after an allegation of "a serious sexual nature" was made against two members of staff. Two men from the Premiership club were questioned by officers from Lancashire police before being released without charge.
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