Vasco boss to fine flabby players

Vasco da Gama's fifth coach of the year Renato Portaluppi has announced a crackdown on overweight players, who will be fined if they do not shed excess kilos by the end of the week.

"A footballer only learns in two ways: when he loses his place in the team or when he is fined," said Renato, who cultivated a playboy image during his own playing career which was plagued by disciplinary problems.

"Players eat a lot of junk," he said.

"Everyone needs to be down to their ideal weight by Friday (today)," said Renato, adding that players who remained overweight would be fined 300 reais ($164) per excess kilo. The daily newspaper O Globo said six players were overweight.

Renato took over last week for his second stint at Vasco and began with a 2-0 defeat to Palmeiras.

Vasco are 17th in the 20-team Brazilian championship, where the bottom four go down.

Mario Sergio, the new coach of Figueirense, also announced drastic measures in an attempt to pull his side away from the danger zone. Figueirense's fourth coach of the year said his squad would spend the rest of the championship, which runs until December 7, confined to a hotel.

"We're going into concentration and we're only coming out at the end of the championship," he said. "There are no more days off for anyone, including me."