In a utopian world, a soccer player is synonymous with professionalism. He is supposed to eat healthy, sleep well, exercise and avoid “pleasures” that are reserved for the common citizen such as cigarettes, alcohol, etc. In practice, and this happens all over the world, there are footballers who go around corners. One of the new ways to do this is to use substitutes such as “Snuz”, the tobacco that is driving the Premier League crazy and slowly seeping into Israeli football.
So what exactly is a snooze? Well, it is a traditional Scandinavian tobacco product that is consumed in the form of chewing rather than smoking (by placing the tobacco under the upper lip). The snooze comes packed in a pouch that contains 27.3 milligrams of nicotine – compared to 10 mg in a regular cigarette – when a box of 18 pouches costs about 9 euros online.
On paper, snooze contains fewer harmful substances than regular cigarettes – but it was still banned from sale in most of Europe for 26 years after studies linked it to cancer. However, it must be clarified that this is not a drug, but an addictive substance that may be harmful. In England, for that matter, the snooze has become commonplace – certainly among the Premier League players. And the reason for this, believe it or not, lies in the feeling that the substance gives.
The snooze, as mentioned, contains a high level of nicotine. Nicotine actually causes the release of adrenaline in the body – which leads to alertness, an acceleration of the heartbeat and the release of dopamine – the secreted substance that actually causes a feeling of pleasure, mental improvement and also addiction. Bottom line, the regular users claim that they are sharper and more focused thanks to the use of snooze.
Although the snooze has not yet “hit” the Israeli audience, it is indeed starting to enter consciousness little by little. The Sports Channel has learned that many foreign players in the Premier League are already using the substance as a substitute for cigarettes, and some Israelis are also exposed to the substance. And yet, this is a gray area because snooze is not a prohibited substance, so the Authority to Combat Doping in Sports has no authority to enforce its use.
In order to purge the substance from the Israeli soccer fields, there should be an intervention by WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency in Sports) – which updates the list of prohibited substances every January and can also do so during the year in individual cases and according to their decision. However, the Israeli authority closely follows such and other trends in order to provide educational and health training.
The Premier League’s fight against the phenomenon
Unlike Israel, in England, where the sale of the substance is prohibited but its use is legal, it is a veritable epidemic that came to light following an investigation by the “Daily Mail” and after an influx of Scandinavian players arrived in English football.
In the investigation it was published, among other things, that used bags were found near the bench of Leicester City – where the “poster boy” of the phenomenon in the Premier League, Jamie Vardy, plays. “It helps me relax,” said the player in the past, who even got permission to use it in the preparations for Euro 2016. “The use of snooze is more widespread than you think, some players even go on the field with it.”
Other players whose names have been mentioned in the context of snooze are Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Chelsea and Jamal Lascelles of Newcastle, who were “caught” following accounts selling snooze on social media. Victor Lindelof, who was born in the country of origin of snooze (Sweden), was photographed with the material in his hand – when the names of Raheem Sterling and Dele Ali were also mentioned in the context of snooze.
An investigation by the “Daily Mail” also reported on the steps being taken in the Premier League in order to eradicate the phenomenon, when it was claimed that one unnamed club even threatened a fine of 10,000 pounds if one of the players was found in possession of a snooze bag. “It’s the devil of English football,” Johnson, who was Sunderland’s manager, told me. “I estimate that about a third of every locker room uses snooze, some use 2-3 bags at once.”
Johnson continued and said: “I’ve had players who were so addicted that they came to the hospital to take care of something else and begged the nurses to give them a snooze, even if they had just had knee surgery. We’ve already reached the point where it’s a starting footballer’s PCL – a bathing bag, three haircuts Twice a week and snooze bags.”
In fact, some concerned coaches have already made a move on the matter. Pep Guardiola, for example, convened the Manchester City players four years ago and made sure that the medical team spoke to them about the matter. Steven Gerrard, unlike him, went for a less educational punishment and imposed a £200 fine on players who “leave snooze lying around in every corner”.
Are the fines the ones that will reduce the use of snooze? Well, money is probably not the right way to hurt players who earn tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars every month – but it certainly raises awareness of the dangers involved in using the substance. And in the meantime, all we have left is to hope that this is just a temporary trend that will not succeed in penetrating the envelope of Israeli football.
