Bacon Sandwich
Has a lot to say
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2020
- Messages
- 1,942
- Reaction score
- 7,299
The Athletic send me their e-mail every morning - like a good many of you, I suspect. This morning there's a story about snus - which I had simply never heard of.
Here's the e-mail for those of you that don't get it. Not behind the paywall, altho' the rest of the story is:
It’s the live match on television. Aston Villa are taking on Arsenal in front of a global audience of millions. The home team are heading towards a 4-2 defeat and, when the camera pans to Unai Emery, Villa's manager, your eyes are drawn to the player in the dugout behind him.
These are the moments when Bertrand Traore, one of Villa’s substitutes, can be seen lifting up his top lip before appearing to place something alongside his gum. Aware that the footage has circulated on social media, Traore denies it was snus.
Rewind eight months and another scene from England’s top division: this time it’s Newcastle United versus Liverpool. Mark Gillespie, Newcastle’s third-choice goalkeeper, might not realise the television cameras are on him. He is sitting in the stand, inserting something beneath his lip, in a scene that is being replicated in dressing rooms up and down the country. Newcastle's approach is that they see it as a personal decision.
Aston Villa's Bertrand Traore (left) and Newcastle's Mark Gillespie were both seen appearing to place something in their mouths during recent Premier League games
Snus is a tobacco product that comes in small parcels, similar to a teabag sachet, and is placed alongside the gum to release nicotine into the bloodstream. Users talk of it giving them a calming effect and a sense of well-being. Stronger variants can involve a physical spark, which many footballers clearly feel is advantageous when the sport has never been quicker than it is now.
Lee Johnson, a manager who has seen its effects close-up, has told The Athletic that from his experiences he estimates 35 to 40 per cent of players are taking snus. If anything, he says, the numbers are probably higher. They just don’t want you to know about it.
“It’s a bit of a taboo subject; nobody is talking about it,” says Johnson, the manager of Hibernian and, before that, Sunderland, Bristol City, Barnsley and Oldham Athletic. “But it has become a culture. It’s getting worse and we need to educate these lads because it’s highly addictive. I don’t feel they understand the true threat of it over the long term.”
Today, an investigation by The Athletic reveals:
■ One high-profile England international is “fully reliant (on snus)... rarely seen without one under his gum".
■ Another big-name Premier League player weaned himself off snus after a long period of struggling for form.
■ Players at a League One club have been selling snus to 13- and 14-year-olds in the academy.
■ One player at a League Two club had “a bit of cancer cut out of his gum” because of heavy use.
■ The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) is to undertake a research study as part of a new campaign, starting this summer, to warn players of the potential risks.
Here's the e-mail for those of you that don't get it. Not behind the paywall, altho' the rest of the story is:
It’s the live match on television. Aston Villa are taking on Arsenal in front of a global audience of millions. The home team are heading towards a 4-2 defeat and, when the camera pans to Unai Emery, Villa's manager, your eyes are drawn to the player in the dugout behind him.
These are the moments when Bertrand Traore, one of Villa’s substitutes, can be seen lifting up his top lip before appearing to place something alongside his gum. Aware that the footage has circulated on social media, Traore denies it was snus.
Rewind eight months and another scene from England’s top division: this time it’s Newcastle United versus Liverpool. Mark Gillespie, Newcastle’s third-choice goalkeeper, might not realise the television cameras are on him. He is sitting in the stand, inserting something beneath his lip, in a scene that is being replicated in dressing rooms up and down the country. Newcastle's approach is that they see it as a personal decision.
Aston Villa's Bertrand Traore (left) and Newcastle's Mark Gillespie were both seen appearing to place something in their mouths during recent Premier League games
Snus is a tobacco product that comes in small parcels, similar to a teabag sachet, and is placed alongside the gum to release nicotine into the bloodstream. Users talk of it giving them a calming effect and a sense of well-being. Stronger variants can involve a physical spark, which many footballers clearly feel is advantageous when the sport has never been quicker than it is now.
Lee Johnson, a manager who has seen its effects close-up, has told The Athletic that from his experiences he estimates 35 to 40 per cent of players are taking snus. If anything, he says, the numbers are probably higher. They just don’t want you to know about it.
“It’s a bit of a taboo subject; nobody is talking about it,” says Johnson, the manager of Hibernian and, before that, Sunderland, Bristol City, Barnsley and Oldham Athletic. “But it has become a culture. It’s getting worse and we need to educate these lads because it’s highly addictive. I don’t feel they understand the true threat of it over the long term.”
Today, an investigation by The Athletic reveals:
■ One high-profile England international is “fully reliant (on snus)... rarely seen without one under his gum".
■ Another big-name Premier League player weaned himself off snus after a long period of struggling for form.
■ Players at a League One club have been selling snus to 13- and 14-year-olds in the academy.
■ One player at a League Two club had “a bit of cancer cut out of his gum” because of heavy use.
■ The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) is to undertake a research study as part of a new campaign, starting this summer, to warn players of the potential risks.
