Source: Daily_Mail
Ledley jeopardises new Spurs contract as booze-boy King is hit with £160k fine
Ledley King has jeopardised his Tottenham future and faces a �160,000 club fine over the late-night drinking spree that ended in arrest for alleged assault.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has previously warned King that he had to show the club that he was living a healthy lifestyle if they were to persuade club chairman Daniel Levy to give him a one-year extension.
King, 28, whose deal runs out in July next year, had hoped that the club would open talks on a new contract this summer after he regained his fitness in the second half of the season to play 27 games in this campaign.
However, his arrest on suspicion of assault in Soho in the small hours of Sunday morning has now made the club's hierarchy dubious about whether to give him an extension.
Meanwhile, Redknapp has vowed to enforce a booze ban at White Hart Lane next season.
King will be fined two weeks' wages by Redknapp whatever the outcome of court proceedings.
The Spurs boss, who would only tolerate soft drinks in the players' bar when he was in charge of West Ham, said: 'I don't think there's any place in football for drinking, for any players. I've said on several occasions to players that you don't put diesel in a Ferrari.
'I'll implement a strong rule next season that drinking is a no-no here. Footballers should not drink.
'We wouldn't get these problems if the players weren't drinking. There's still too much of a drinking culture in English football but it's not as bad as it used to be.
Two faces of a footballer: Party King (left) out in Soho on Sunday and Ledley the athlete (far right) competes with Emile Heskey in the Premier League
'At Tottenham we do a lot with kids, a lot of them underprivileged. We have to set an example. Too much drinking goes on in this country. Too many people are not happy unless they have had a drink.
'Modern-day footballers are top-class athletes and they should look after their bodies and set a good example.
Banning booze: Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp
'They eat the right foods, we have dieticians at clubs, fitness coaches, sports scientists, but what good is all of that if they go out and get too much alcohol in their bodies.
'If they want to go away for four or five weeks at the end of theseason and have a blow-out . . . but I think they should dedicate theirlives to playing, and I don't think there's any place in the game fordrink.
'I will speak to Ledley about it. He has been in great form but he has not set the right example. It is out of character for Ledley, who is a terrific person in my opinion, but it happens when players go out drinking. We have to look at that.
'He has apologised for what he has done, but the club will look at what action needs to be taken.'
Redknapp has also revealed that his willing to introduce alcohol-testing at Spurs training complex.
'I wouldn't hesitate to test them when they come in. You wouldn't get these problems if they weren't having a drink. It would stop it completely.
'When I was manager of West Ham, I made the players' bar dry, and I feel the same way about Tottenham. We wouldn't get these problems if they weren't having a drink.
'We haven't got a drink problem at Tottenham. This has happened throughout time, and there will not be a manager in the country without experience of that problem.
'Every club in the country has had problems with different players at different times.'
