In England, the use of snus is becoming more common among footballers, and it is creeping down more and more with age.
It creates concern, among other things for Hibernian coach Lee Johnson.
– In the end you give up, but it bothers me a lot, he says The Athletic.
Here in Sweden, snus use is legal for people over the age of 18.
Snuff use is widespread and normalized among the Swedish population.
In England, snus with tobacco in it is illegal, and may not be sold. Nicotine snuff without tobacco is available in stores.
Use of snus in England is not as normative as in Sweden. In the world of football, however, it is becoming more and more common.
The Athletic reports that snus is being used more and more among elite players.
The newspaper has received information that a high-profile player in England’s national team is addicted to snuff and is “rarely seen without one under his lip”.
And snuff is spreading more and more in lower divisions, and ages. It even occurs in academy teams.
How did it get that way?
Players experience peer pressure
An anonymous footballer who previously played in the Premier League says that he has been snoring since he was 18 and hasn’t been able to quit since.
His teammates sniffed and the player was drawn into the gang and couldn’t resist trying.
– The number of times I’ve told myself I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to stop, but then you try and fall back because it becomes such a habit. But obviously it’s not good, says the anonymous player to The Athletic.
“Sees them as their idols”
Thanks to a loophole in the regulations, tobacco-free snus is being sold to people under 18.
– These young guys look at the best players, they see them as their idols. They see what they do, what they wear, what they eat. They see the players take one, two, sometimes three small packets of snuff and put them under their lips. Then they naturally think ‘okay, that’s what the best footballers do’, says Lee Johnson, who coached clubs such as Sunderland and Barnsley.
On websites, people in England can also order home snus with tobacco in it, something that is used by footballers.
The clubs’ snus strategy
Snus is not classified as doping in England, so it is difficult to get players to stop, says Lee Johnson, coach at Hibernian.
– I don’t know how to stop it. They are grown men, in the end you give up. But it bothers me a lot, especially when I see young guys aged 16-21 snorting. If I walked into the training ground with five cigarettes between my fingers, people would have looked at me and said ‘so unprofessional,'” says Johnson, who has coached clubs such as Sunderland and Barnsley.
A person from one club’s medical staff says they can do little more than warn players of the health risks of long-term snus use. Beyond that, it’s a problem “that can’t really be fixed”.
The general snuff strategy among the English clubs is to allow the players to snuff, but tell them to do it discreetly and hide it from the public.
The plan for next season
The club doctor has a theory why so many footballers snuff.
Today’s footballers are told from a young age what to eat and drink and how to behave. Snuff is their only opportunity to “do something rebellious”.
Ahead of the 2023/2024 season, workshops are planned to inform footballers about the health risks of snuff use, in the hope that use will decrease.
FACT: Soccer player captured on photo with snuff
International players
- Jamie Vardy
- Marcus Rashford
- Marcus Thuram
- Bertrand Traore
- Mark Gillespie
Swedish player
- Victor Nilsson Lindelöf
- Emil Krafth
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic
