Chelsea Players “Too Rich and Too Soft”

By: Daryl | October 3rd, 2008

Chelsea visited Transylvania to play CFR Cluj in the Champions League this week, and didn’t make a particularly good impression on their Romanian hosts. Apparently they were way too picky about what goes on their plates.

Much as it pains me to quote anything from The Daily Mail:

The players, who flew into the famous Dracula country for tonight’s Champions League match, issued a 35-page list of demands at their five-star hotel.

The list orders that food can only be prepared under the watchful eye of their nutritionist Nick Broad, non-organic products be thrown out, and only extra virgin olive oil could be used.

Maybe a five-star hotel is a bit like slumming it if you’re on Chelsea money. And maybe there really is a big difference between virgin and extra virgin olive oil (according to this, extra virgin has 1.2% less oleic acid than regular virgin, which must make a difference in winning 50/50 balls or something.)

But needless to say, this didn’t go down too well with the hotel staff. One hotel worker gave the Mail this entertainingly angry rant:

“What do they think we’re going to give them? Dracula blood? It’s insulting. Like something out of the middle ages. They are too rich and too soft. This is a good hotel. We’re used to stars and VIPs but this lot think they’re royalty.”

Ouch.

To be fair to the Chelsea players, this probably isn’t their fault. Sounds like the club has them all on a pretty strict diet, and it’s not as if John Terry stormed into the kitchen demanding extra-virgin. The instructions came from the specialist.

And maybe that Chelsea diet really does work. Latest news is that Didier Drogba’s knee injury in the goalless draw against Cluj isn’t as bad as it first looked and won’t be requiring surgery.

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Category: Champions League

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Laurie

My husband was a Hotel and Restaurant Mgmt major who did his internship in food and beverage services in a large international hotel. Based on his stories, I would sure as hell want my staff on site during the cooking process too.
James

Lame! It's a 5 star hotel not McDonalds!
rc

This is very typical of high level athletes and professional teams (most of whom have chefs and nutritionists on staff). In cycling, chefs travel with teams, especially for the grand tours, and cook every meal. Seems like pretty standard practice for high performance athletes.
Reginald

Having worked in a 5 start hotel where top football clubs stay, I can assure you this is nothing new, and I would suggest most clubs do the same. A certain NE club even had their own chefs cook the meal, not just oversee it.