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Topics: Eden Hazard, Belgium, Chelsea, Real Madrid
Josh Lawless
Topics: Eden Hazard, Belgium, Chelsea, Real Madrid
A Belgian politician has ripped into Real Madrid star Eden Hazard, branding him "a little fat man".
The Belgium captain has been the subject of a number of fat and overweight jibes in recent years, but none more brutal than Jean-Marie Dedecker.
Dedecker, who is mayor of Middelkerke in the north of Belgium, scolded the former Chelsea forward over an incident in 2011 where he was snapped chomping on a burger.
In 2011, Hazard was hit with a two-match ban after eating the meal having been substituted by manager Georges-Leekens in a Euro 2012 qualifier vs Turkey.
"The whole press complains about him," the 69-year-old told Belgian newspaper Krant van West-Vlaanderen, as per Mundo Deportivo.
"Actually, he is just a little fat man who has gotten fat by the system and the money.
"I can still see him flee when Georges Leekens replaced him and had a hamburger near King Baudouin Stadium."
Last year, Hazard was brutally trolled by fast food chain Burger King on Twitter when he was absent from Real training.
Spanish outlet El Chiringuito tweeted, "Hazard didn't train with the team today. Why?".
The Burger King Twitter admin then gave their reason, simply replying: "2x1 at Burger King".
Hazard, one branded "the greediest" player in Belgium's squad by the national team chef Wym Casteleyn, talked up about the incident in a 2019 interview.
"It was Andalusian, it has always been my favourite sauce," when asked about his burger by RTBF.
“I have some pots in London, I ask mum to bring me some back every time she comes.
“That night, I did a stupid thing but the story of the hamburger, we talk about it in a joke, it's in quotation marks what makes my legend with the selection [of Belgium].”
In June of 2021, Hazard became the face of a new McDonalds advertising campaign and did his best impression of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone, as he stared at two beef patties in buns.
It's been another difficult campaign for Hazard this term, with his dream move to Real still not going to plan.
The 31-year-old has played 16 times for Los Blancos and is yet to find the net since Carlo Ancelotti's arrival.