Have you thought this through, Carlo? Sure, £6.5million a year is a lot but won’t you miss the pleasure of that half-time cigarette, that full-time puff, that falling-behind anxiety reliever, that late-winner wheeze? You were rarely seen without one at the San Siro; is the chance to watch Didier Drogba shriek at referees really worth giving up your beloved weed for?
That is the sacrifice managers have to make here. For the past two seasons, football stadiums have been no-smoking zones. È vietato fumare, Carlo, and don’t think you can get away with a crafty one behind the dugout. The cameras will be watching. No doubt a smoking cessation officer from Brent Council has already contacted Chelsea about Guus Hiddink having a cigar in the Wembley dressing room.
You could quit completely, of course. You tried to after the Champions League final in 2005 when a lesser man would have started puffing like Etna. The Football League has a deal with Nicotinell to help fans who want to give up. There is a rewards scheme for those who collect stamps from a pharmacy when buying the gum. Will we see you in Boots on match day, Carlo? Or will you just try to make it through each half, twitching each time you think of smoking? Just as well Nicky Butt is now in the Coca-Cola Championship.
Smoking used to be common in football but it has gone the way of players staying on their feet in the tackle. Gianluca Vialli, a former Chelsea manager, was a merry puffer as player and coach. After being substituted in the 1990 World Cup, he lay on a bench and filled his lungs. César Luis Menotti inspired Argentina to win the 1978 World Cup by breathing essence of Marlboro over them in the dressing room.
Zinédine Zidane was seen having a smoke before the 2006 World Cup semi-final between France and Portugal. There was an irony in this because Zidane had fronted an EU campaign against smoking, under the half-hearted slogan: “Feel Free to say No”. Or not, it’s up to you.
Johan Cruyff was a 20-a-day man when coach of Barcelona until he needed heart surgery. Then he took up sucking lollipops. Maybe that is what you should do, Carlo. Do they make tobacco-flavoured Chupa Chups?
© Copyright: Timesonline
Tobacco is an annual or bi-annual growing 1-3 meters tall with large sticky leaves that contain nicotine. Native to the Americas, tobacco has a long history of use as a shamanic inebriant and stimulant. It is extremely popular and well-known for its addictive potential.
Nicotiana rustica leaves.
Nicotiana rustica leaves have a nicotine content as high as 9%, whereas Nicotiana tabacum (common tobacco) leaves contain about 1 to 3%
A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, Philippines, and the Eastern United States.
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it may be in the form of cigarettes smoking, snuffing, chewing, dipping tobacco, or snus.
