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Eden Hazard fined a bottle of champagne for missing Belgium team bus

Dirty Tackle

Belgian international Eden Hazard made himself a very rich 21-year-old when he announced his decision to move from Lille to Chelsea in a £32 million ($49.5 million) transfer through Twitter on Monday. It was a decision he teased out over months and turned into a spectacle of self-importance and modern player power, which was apparently so tiring for Hazard that he ended up missing Belgium's team bus from their hotel to the training ground on Tuesday -- an offense that will cost him exactly one bottle of champagne as selected by Belgium captain Vincent Kompany.

From the Guardian:

Hazard must now find a window in his preparations for the Wembley friendly against England on Saturday to purchase the present his team-mates decided will be his forfeit. Appropriately for the midfielder, it is a bottle of champagne. "Vincent Kompany will choose the label," the Belgium manager, Marc Wilmots, said. The suggestion was that the captain would select a very expensive one.

Hazard can afford it. His five-year contract at Stamford Bridge is worth £100,000 [$154,894] a week after tax and there is every chance that he will hand over the bubbly with a swagger.

It's an unusual punishment, but given Hazard's personality and his big move the day before, he probably has a few extra bottles laying around. In fact, bottles of champagne might even be his preferred currency.