The images are a bit dated but how to forget them? In 2018, the tabloid The Sun set Arsenal on fire by posting a video of its players caught in the act of consuming nitrous oxide, the new substance in fashion among young people, in a London club. We thus see Lacazette, Aubameyang, Ozil, Kolasinac, Mkhitaryan and Guendouzi preparing balloons filled with this gas – which can be found over the counter because stored in particular in cartridges for whipped cream siphon or aerosols – before inhaling it and bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Even a little more.
Quoted at the time by the tabloid, a witness present on the spot says, about Mesut Özil: “He took a big puff of the ball, then seemed to lose consciousness and slipped in his seat”. “The one with curly hair was also encouraged to try. He completely passed out and collapsed on his side on a sofa, ”he will then say, speaking of Mattéo Guendouzi. Two years later, Lacazette, again, will be caught in the mouth again, prompting Arsenal to officially promise that “this problem will be solved internally”.
Arsenal players will be ‘reminded of their responsibilities’ by club bosses after ‘hippy crack’ session https://t.co/tOqYHgYPVA pic.twitter.com/liU8HuVht9
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) December 7, 2018
In French football, no similar story has ever leaked. However, the phenomenon is just as popular with French youth, to the point of pushing the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency to publish a note last April to warn against the risks associated with a practice now trivialized “especially among adolescents”.
French football is not spared
After a meticulous investigation on our part, even though the subject could not be more taboo in the industry (there are countless polite refusals, “I’ve never heard of that, but I’d be curious to read your article” or “good luck”, which we received by text message) it seems that the small world of French football is not immune to this fashion. The first to have agreed to speak to us openly is called Alexandre Marles. A former physical trainer for PSG and OL, he now works independently with many professional players.
According to him, “the consumption of nitrous oxide is not something recent, the first players who started testing this, it dates back to the summer of 2020. But as with shisha, all of this took on more importance during the Covid, in particular when the championships stopped in March-April 2021. » « There is there are a lot of players who have gone a little crazy, he continues. With the fact of no longer being able to train or play, of no longer appearing on TV or being solicited in the media, of being a little less followed on social networks, some have taken quite a blow to their ego and fell back on cigarettes, alcohol and therefore nitrous oxide. »
If, for Alexandre Marles, the phenomenon is “relatively marginal”, others do not have quite the same appreciation. “None of our players has had any problems with it, but some have seen teammates consume it, explains sports agent and lawyer Badou Sambagué, who today manages the careers of around thirty players in Ligue 1. problem is overlooked because it is mistakenly thought that only a small minority are affected. However, today, it is really an important and very serious subject for us, sports councils ”.
“It’s not an epiphenomenon, it even becomes almost daily for some of them”, slips us off one of his colleagues. Same little music in the mouth of a doctor from a Ligue 1 club who also prefers to remain anonymous. “We’ve been seeing it for about two years. There is no particular profile, it affects young and old alike. We did not have serious cases like in some clubs but yes, we had to manage ”.
A young footballer hospitalized after taking « proto »
20 Minutes has learned from reliable sources that FC Nantes striker Jean-Kévin Augustin was one of those who had been seduced in recent years by these balloons that make you laugh. Could this consumption be the cause of the long Covid and the Guillain-Barré syndrome from which the player suffers, and which kept him away from the field for long months, as our sources have suggested to us? The player’s entourage categorically denies it.
“If the question is: has Jean-Kévin Augustin ever consumed balloons, yes, unfortunately, that for once is factual. Thank God it is a practice that he has since stopped. On the other hand, was it something that reinforced or helped the disease to spread, lengthened the duration of his absence, complicated his rehabilitation? Absolutely not, assures a relative of Nantes. It has absolutely nothing to do with the final diagnosis linked to the long Covid. »
Contacted by us, FC Nantes did not respond to our interview requests. But the case of JKA is not isolated. According to our information, a young player from another Ligue 1 club even had to be hospitalized for several days after inhaling “proto”, as his followers call him.
A taboo subject in clubs
Because the whole problem is there. Breathing in nitrous oxide is not without risk for the body, quite the contrary. According to the Ile-de-France ARS, “abusive and massive consumption of nitrous oxide can lead to serious sequelae for users, with the risk of serious neurological disorders caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency. ” ANSES, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety, also points to an increase in cases of sometimes serious neuromuscular damage, gait and balance disorders, convulsions, tremors, all of which may require rehabilitation stays. This can also promote psychic disorders such as panic attacks, delirium, confusion, amnesia, irritability, insomnia.
Not to mention heart rhythm disorders (tachycardia, high blood pressure, bradycardia, chest pain, etc.). Several accidents on the public highway have also been reported in recent months, such as in Paris, on the Champs Elysées, last September. A motorist who consumed balloons lost control of her vehicle and hit head-on four pedestrians who were waiting on the central reservation of a protected passage.
Nitrous oxide: the main damage caused by laughing gas >> https://t.co/OIRO5OSro3 pic.twitter.com/Z2o9c7M9Q6
— The Parisian | infographics (@leparisieninfog) January 20, 2022
“Recovery may be incomplete, adds the ARS. Sequelae are possible and require rehabilitation. Long-term cognitive impairment is not excluded due to vitamin B12 deficiency but also repeated lack of oxygenation of the brain (cerebral hypoxia). “If the L1 doctor whom we interviewed now ensures that he does prevention with his players, for Badou Sambagué, “the problem is not highlighted enough in the clubs”.
“They should insist a lot more with the players because the majority of them are not aware of the dangers of the “balloons”, he assures. Why is this not the case? Because it’s still a little taboo. Some prefer to close their eyes to preserve the image of the club-institution. However, this position plays against the health of athletes…”. At his level, Alexandre Marles tries somehow to educate footballers who ask him for advice. “The instructions we give when a player asks us? The clean and radical stop. There is no other solution. »
