Official Benoit Thread

[Ginola99]

It's safer to skydive than it is to drive your car 10,000 miles a year. Around 20 times safer in fact. So do clubs stop players from driving?


The only case i can find is that Beckham went skydiving once, indoors. In a generic search i couldn't even find Bae's, had to search 'Assou Ekotto skydiving', made slightly more complicated by 'parachute' payments. I'd venture that nobody particularly cares what they get up to in their spare time.

I have zero problem with him skydiving, you can't hide people away, if you were that inclined to avoid risks then they just wouldn't be allowed out as leaving the house and getting in a car is dangerous. If it was a 'dangerous sport' with a high risk of injury then sure, he shouldn't do it. That is not skydiving.

I understand the stats behind it (how safe etc) but Lloyds insurers obviously view it an unnecessary risk for a £5-10 million pound asset.. You only need to ask Lennon how safe a driver Ekotto is ha ha..

** Standard premier league contract **

3. Duties and Obligations of the Player
3.1 The Player agrees:
3.1.1 when directed by an authorised official of the Club:
3.1.1.1 to attend matches in which the Club is engaged;
3.1.1.2 to participate in any matches in which he is selected to play for the Club;
and
3.1.1.3 to attend at any reasonable place for the purposes of and to participate in
training and match preparation;
3.1.2 to play to the best of his skill and ability at all times;
3.1.3 except to the extent prevented by injury or illness to maintain a high standard of physical
fitness at all times and not to indulge in any activity sport or practice which might
endanger such fitness or inhibit his mental or physical ability to play practise or train;

 

[Spursalot]

I understand the stats behind it (how safe etc) but Lloyds insurers obviously view it an unnecessary risk for a £5-10 million pound asset.. You only need to ask Lennon how safe a driver Ekotto is ha ha..

** Standard premier league contract **

3. Duties and Obligations of the Player
3.1 The Player agrees:
3.1.1 when directed by an authorised official of the Club:
3.1.1.1 to attend matches in which the Club is engaged;
3.1.1.2 to participate in any matches in which he is selected to play for the Club;
and
3.1.1.3 to attend at any reasonable place for the purposes of and to participate in
training and match preparation;
3.1.2 to play to the best of his skill and ability at all times;
3.1.3 except to the extent prevented by injury or illness to maintain a high standard of physical
fitness at all times and not to indulge in any activity sport or practice which might
endanger such fitness or inhibit his mental or physical ability to play practise or train;

I still don't see an issue. From the picture he is doing a Tandem jump with an instructor.

Tandem Jumping
1991-1996:
670,707 jumps
8 fatalities (one for every 83,838 jumps).
--FAA 1999 NPRM
http://www.faa.gov/

1999-2002:
Worldwide: Less than one fatality for every 420,000 jumps made.
U.S. Only: One fatality for every 540,000 tandem jumps.
--Uninsured Relative Workshop.
http://www.relativeworkshop.com/home.html

Those are crazy low odds of fatalities. Also i would venture that those 'duties and obligations' no longer hold sway during the off season. Do you think the players are still maintaining a high level of fitness at all times? I would not believe so. We are currently not doing any playing, practising or training. So his skydiving would not prevent him from doing anything.

 

[Jordinho]

I know we have forbidden players to go downhill skiing in the past, but it's not risk of death that's behind it. Similarly, I think the most probably injury from skydiving would be injuring your legs when landing.

 

[inkpenspur]

The difference between sky diving and say skiing is the increased likelihood of death if something goes wrong. I doubt he got permission for something as extreme as this. He's just a krazy kat More likely he's used his contract for roaches and has no idea he's not allowed do these things.

I think anyone jumping out of a plane is mad personally, but each to his own.

Hmm... I wonder if it was written on the back of a fag packet then?

 

[Mumorn]

Benoit Assou-Ekotto ‏@AssouEkotto 6m
He said as spurs is not a good team...i guess he ll never say that any more Lolololol

 

[braineclipse]

I'm guessing parachuting is frowned upon by most clubs, if not I think a lot more players would be seen doing it in the off season.

Death is not the only worry, there are injuries that can be sustained.

It's not like he's trying to get away with something though, so it seems quite likely that he's been given permission or something.

 

[metalgear]

Benoit Assou-Ekotto ‏@AssouEkotto 6m
He said as spurs is not a good team...i guess he ll never say that any more Lolololol ��

LOL!

 

[rosenthal]

I'm guessing parachuting is frowned upon by most clubs, if not I think a lot more players would be seen doing it in the off season.

Death is not the only worry, there are injuries that can be sustained.

It's not like he's trying to get away with something though, so it seems quite likely that he's been given permission or something.

It's common for Premier League footballers to have it in their contract
that they can't go sky diving, ride motorcycles, go skiing, do extremesports etc.
Not sure what the situation is at Spurs, thinking of Cudicini's accident on a bike

 

[greatwhitenorf]

You'd think with all that hair he wouldn't really need a parachute.

Looks like he's having fun and I'm glad to see it.

 

[Kingdawson]

Benoit Assou-Ekotto ‏@AssouEkotto 6m
He said as spurs is not a good team...i guess he ll never say that any more Lolololol ��

:ross::ross:

 

[Lily White]

Or it could be a wind up. All we have seen is Benny in a skydiving suit with his afro badly contained under a skull cap and a photo of a certificate. Looks like he is having fun though.

 

[PochettinoPochettinoPochettino]

I know we have forbidden players to go downhill skiing in the past, but it's not risk of death that's behind it. Similarly, I think the most probably injury from skydiving would be injuring your legs when landing.

Is that a lookalikey or is it actually Zach Galifianakis??

 

[stinkfoot]

Its a lookalike. They have them up and down the main strip. I saw an interview with Bradley Cooper where he was saying when they filmed the 3rd one they had to make sure there was no 'Hangover' tribute stuff in shot!

 

[lynneb]

His holiday looks a tremendous amount of fun

 

[Mumorn]

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/s...al-fan-on-twitter-with-pic-of-cesc-rvp-nasri/

Can't do nothing but love the guy :ross:

 

[NaijaSpurs]

I still don't see an issue. From the picture he is doing a Tandem jump with an instructor.




Those are crazy low odds of fatalities. Also i would venture that those 'duties and obligations' no longer hold sway during the off season. Do you think the players are still maintaining a high level of fitness at all times? I would not believe so. We are currently not doing any playing, practising or training. So his skydiving would not prevent him from doing anything.

Ridiculous.

If you get fudge up doing something not allowed in your contract like crashing while riding a motor cycle in the summer you could still be out for the next 6 months. Does not matter when you do it if you are under contract.

More likely Benny thought skydiving looked cool so he just did it

 

[Spursalot]

Ridiculous.

If you get fudge up doing something not allowed in your contract like crashing while riding a motor cycle in the summer you could still be out for the next 6 months. Does not matter when you do it if you are under contract.

More likely Benny thought skydiving looked cool so he just did it

I don't think riding a motorcycle is against the contractual rules either, else how did Cudicini crash his a few years ago?

 

[metalgear]

Tottenham defender Benoit Assou Ekotto winds up an Arsenal fan on Twitter
Posted by Rob Parker on July 5, 2013 in: Arsenal, Tottenham, Twitter|1 Comment

@danny1512boy no comment… LOL pic.twitter.com/PRTw9NuF6M

— Benoit Assou-Ekotto (@AssouEkotto) July 4, 2013

Spurs left-back Benoit Assou Ekotto got his own back on an internet troll with some trolling of his own.

The Arsenal fan, Daniel Stevenson, contacted Assou Ekotto on Twitter to serve up some banter that was on par with his grammar.

He wrote: “your started at the bottom…and your still are #arsenal4ever #buyahairbrush #yourbrick” [sic]

BAE responded by posting a photo of former Arsenal players Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas posing with the trophies they’ve won since leaving the Emirates.

He added: “No comment… LOL.”

 

[Jordinho]

I don't think riding a motorcycle is against the contractual rules either, else how did Cudicini crash his a few years ago?

By riding a motorbike Cudicini is in breach of his contract, meaning technically Spurs would be within their rights to sack him. Clauses agreed with the Premier League, the Football Association and the Professional Footballers' Association forbid players from engaging in activities which could endanger their careers such as skiing or riding a motorbike.

While Tottenham insist they are only concerned with Cudicini's welfare, there could be problems further down the line regarding the insurance for a player who is understood to earn in the region of £50,000-a-week.

Cudicini was understood to be on his way to Tottenham's training ground near Chigwell, Essex, when the accident occurred, although manager Harry Redknapp was said to be unaware his keeper rode a motorbike.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1227214/Tottenham-goalkeeper-Carlo-Cudicini-rushed-hospital-motorbike-smash.html

 

[markysimmo]

Why is Benny in Africa rather than pre-season training ???