Lee highlights ‘problem’ of chewing tobacco in the game
SUNDERLAND manager Lee Johnson has declared that snus - a form of chewing tobacco - is a “big, big problem” in football, six months after Bristol Rovers boss Joey Barton also raised the issue in relation to usage among his players.
Snus is a smokeless tobacco product, often sold in small teabaglike pouches, originating from Scandinavia which provides a rapid, high-strength nicotine hit when placed under the top lip.
It’s on WADA’s (the World AntiDoping Agency) monitoring programme and while you’re not able to buy it in the UK, possession and consumption isn’t illegal nor is it banned in football.
Commenting on a LinkedIn post by Cezanne Tobin, founder of My Football Mind, Johnson wrote: “Big big problem in football! Sad to see and in my opinion very detrimental to development and performance.”
Johnson was in charge at Bristol City for four years before taking the post at the Stadium of Light in December, 2020.
In April, following a defeat to MK Dons which all-but confirmed Rovers’ relegation into League Two, Barton noted that more than 10 of his squad were regular users of snus.
Some have claimed it delivers performance-enhancing benefits, due to increased mental sharpness, while relieving anxiety and stress, but there is no concrete scientific proof. Each pouch contains in the region of three times as much nicotine as a standard cigarette.
“My first day at the training ground, there’s 11 pouches of chewing tobacco on the floor on the training pitch,” said Barton.
“I have had to say to some of the lads, ‘what is going on here?’ Credit
to some of them, some have changed and turned, but the damage is done if in February I’m having to tell you to stop sticking 43g of nicotine under your top lip.
“Not just one player, by the way, double figures. It’s not good enough. It shouldn’t be happening in professional football.
The Bristol Post understands Rovers were not an isolated case and many players throughout the EFL use it to help them prepare for the mental challenges of playing. A number of the Gas players who were using it at the time have since
left the club. The concern is not only around the health warnings, as it’s been linked to pancreatic and oesophageal cancer, and affects sleeping patterns but also how it affects the dynamic of the squad given its addictiveness, while there are also fears from coaches that it can lead to injury.
An unnamed League One boss told The Sun in August: “It’s the devil of football. It’s pretty much part of the footballer’s starter pack - three haircuts a week, a washbag and a pack of snus.
“Last year muscle injuries were up and generally that was put down to Covid and the games being on average every 3.2 days.
“But I believe probably half were down to snus. I don’t think it’s just your muscles, I think it’s your ligaments, your tendons.
“It’s just putting poison into your body.”
That same report also referenced therapist Andy MacArthur who has claimed to have helped 15 footballers end their addiction to the substance, including one who was waking in the night to take a pouch.