Sol Campbell Withdraws From Sumo World Championship

Last updated : 19 August 2010 By Footy Mad - Editor

The 37-year-old missed training in pre-season because he was "organising his wedding and honeymoon", and returned looking like Martin Lawrence in the film 'Big Momma's House'.

Campbell claims the photos of him waddling around the training ground were not a true example of his 6-pack.

But we hear from our guy at St James' Park he is now "putting in the effort" and looking ... errrr ... not as fat as he was.

Chris Hughton: “Sunday is too early for Sol but he’s getting much closer now.

“Could we put him out on Sunday? Well possibly but we’d prefer not to because we’re looking at it from the long-term.

“It is not just a question of one or two games, it’s about getting him back properly to play for the rest of the season. If we rushed him back then he is susceptible to picking up knocks and that is not what we want to happen.

“Sol knows he is physically behind the others but he is making good progress and I’m happy with him.”