Toilet trouble - Seven sports stars who got caught short in public

Mansfield Town striker Adi Yussuf is being investigated by the FA over Plymouth Argyle fans' claims that he urinated in public before going on as substitute during the Stags' 3-0 defeat last week.
Mansfield Town Adi YussufMansfield Town Adi Yussuf
Mansfield Town Adi Yussuf

But, if he is found guilty, he would be far from the first sportsperson who has been caught short and ended up in hot water.

Many of them have avoided being fined for spending a penny too.

Click HERE to read the Adi Yussuf story

Here are seven famous toilet moments in sporting history!

PAULA RADCLIFFE

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The British runner famously stopped during the 2005 London Marathon for what she called ‘an embarrassing necessity’.

Radcliffe had to squat by the side of the road at the 22-mile mark after her stomach reacted to her pre-race meal.

“I have to apologise to the nation,” she said afterwards. “I must have eaten too much. I was losing 10 seconds every mile because my stomach was cramping.”

Radcliffe took control of the race after seven miles and went on to win her third London and fifth major international marathon title. Radcliffe’s time of 2:17:42 was the third fastest ever, and a world record for a women’s-only race.

Click HERE to see the famous ‘dash’ of her running career

GARY LINEKER

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Clean cut England striker Gary Lineker famously lost control on the pitch during the 1990 World Cup game against Ireland.

Lineker attempted to tackle someone, missed and fell to the ground. He was then seen to be rubbing his behind on the turf before getting up and carrying on with the game.

The former England striker finally admitted on the occasion of his 50th birthday in 2011 that he did in fact ‘relax himself’.

He said: “The ball went down the left hand side, I did try to tackle someone, I stretched and then I relaxed myself.

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“I was very fortunate it rained that night and I could do something about it. It was messy, it just came out, it happened. How much detail do you want?

“It’s true; it was the opening game of the 1990 World Cup against the Republic of Ireland.

“You can see me rubbing the ground like a dog; it was the most horrendous experience of my life, but I tell you I never found so much space in a game than I did that night after that happened.”

Click HERE to see the famous moment – beware, this is adult content

JANS LEHMANN

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Goalkeeper Jans Lehmann needed to spend a penny during Stuttgart’s 2009 Champions League clash with Unirea Urziceni in 2009 and ran behind the goal.

Lehmann was been told he was lucky to escape punishment after jumping over the advertising hoardings and relieving himself before being interrupted by a Romanian counter-attack.

Luckily for Lehmann, the referee, Viktor Kassai, did not see the incident and could not book the former Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper for leaving the pitch without permission.

Click HERE to see Lehmann in action behind the goal

RUSSELL PACKER

Rugby League player Russell Packer of the New Zealand Warriors incurred a fine for his club in 2013 after urinating on the pitch during a match against Brisbane Broncos.

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Packer tweeted: “Good win when u gotta go u gotta go lol”, but NRL general manager (football operations) Nathan McGuirk retorted: “This sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable and there is no 
excuse for it” and Packer later apologised.

Click HERE to see the Packer moment

MONTY PANESAR

In 2013, England cricket Monty Panesar went even further and deliberately urinated on some nightclub bouncers in Brighton who had thrown him out the club after 4am.

The left arm spinner was given a £90 fixed penalty notice after the door staff caught up with him in a pizza shop, ‘restrained’ him and dragged him back to the club before calling the police.

Panesar gave an “unreserved apology” for his behaviour.

NICK NOVAK

After San Diego Chargers kicker Nick Novak was caught on camera spending a penny pitchside, the NFL officially announced that it’s OK to urinate by the pitch, as long as there is something to provide discreet cover.

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In this case a Chargers trainer did the honours. Novak claimed he did this ‘two or three times a game’.

Click HERE to see the controversial clip

JASON PUNCHEON

Striker Jason Puncheon, then a Southampton player, would be grateful that his moment of being caught short actually took place in the immediate vicinity of a toilet.

In January 2013 during a Premier League clash with Everton he left the pitch after speaking to the referee and emerged from the tunnel roughly three minutes later, but, not surprisingly, the home fans quickly committed the event to a bawdy song to his embarrassment.