Van Aanholt’s caught in shisha shame
LONDON: Patrick van Aanholt was caught smoking a shisha pipe just over a month before he was sensationally pulled out of Sunderland’s side at Tottenham Hotspur due to health fears.
The fullback was snapped puffing the pipe alongside a friend in Newcastle on Aug 9.
The Dutch defender made the headlines on Sunday when he was pulled out of the Black Cats’ starting line-up at White Hart Lane.
Manager David Moyes withdrew the 25-year-old just 15 minutes before kick-off after “medical advice from cardiologists”.
Although Van Aanholt has since squashed fears of any issues with his heart, the image of him and pipe will not go down well with Moyes or the club’s supporters.
According to a source, he walked into the bar alone and sat with friends and continued to smoke shisha for around an hour before leaving, just days before the opening game of the season at Manchester City.
The source said: “Being a lifelong Sunderland supporter, it was a poor sight to see.
“Having just survived relegation last season, Patrick didn’t seem to be showing fans he was serious about this season.
“It looked like he was prioritising his lavish lifestyle over gearing up for a big match against City.”
On their website, the British Heart Foundation states: “Like cigarettes (shisha) contains nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, such as arsenic and lead.”
Shisha pipes, most commonly used in the Middle East, are used to smoke fruit-flavoured tobacco, which is burned on hot coals, through a long tube.
It is said that one single shisha session is equal to smoking around 200 cigarettes.
Moyes said he was advised to leave him out of the team at late notice by FA cardiology experts after they saw the results of a test the club conducted on the player last Tuesday.
The Scot wanted answers from the FA as to why their warning only came back to Sunderland 35 minutes before the match began.
He fumed: “It put us in a really difficult situation. I’ve never in my career been put in a situation like that.”