By Mike Owuor
Footballers would ordinarily be expected to take water or one of those fancy energy drinks before a game. But even these are strictly controlled in some teams to avoid stitches.
Nonetheless, alcohol is usually prohibited although the way some footballers play may raise suspicion that they had taken a swig of their favourite tipple. And football at the grassroots is never short of characters whose game is powered by drinks like chang’aa and its supposedly classier cousins packed in sachets and small plastic bottles.
But in the professional game, alcohol before a match is a no-no. Or is it? Well, last month Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini stunned fellow English Premier League managers and provided fodder for tabloids with his suggestion that there was nothing wrong with players drinking a little alcohol before a game.
No alcohol
Mancini was having a drink with his players when he discovered there was no alcohol on the table and said he intended "to put it right".
He reportedly considered himself to be in "a very different world".
According to The Sun, Mancini said it was fine for his squad to have "a drop of plonk" with their pre-match meal. The manager was apparently "stunned" when he sat down to eat with his players ahead of a game and discovered no alcohol on the table.
A glass of wine to go with the pre-match food, said the Italian, was good for the game. Now, I suppose some players who love their drink may be thinking of making a beeline for the blue side of the City of Manchester.
According to worldbbnews.com, in Italy the culture of sipping alcohol at meal times, instead of fast drinking in nightclubs, can "perk up pre-match meals and improve performance". The manager also suggested including Italian food like pizza on the menu.
Managers’ views
"I will calmly make corrections to what they eat before matches," City’s manager told the Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport. "You need more chicken, pizza, carbohydrates as well as a glass of wine, which isn’t being served."
Compare this to The Sun’s take on other managers’ views on alcohol. Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp, for example, is said to have imposed a 48-hour booze ban before games while Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger supposedly usually gets his players to monitor their urine to ensure they are hydrated. Alcohol is known for its dehydrating effects.
As for England national team manager Fabio Capello, Mancini’s countryman, even using a mobile phone at meal times is a sin, let alone drinking alcohol.
Small players
But an expert commenting on The Sun’s website says alcohol affects alertness and is not good for players. "It sounds a poor idea to me as the body takes an hour to process one unit of alcohol. Small players like Shaun Wright-Phillips would be more affected because of their stature," the expert said. It is a theory my colleague Smitta, who does not have the biggest of frames, should take note of.
Mancini may have a somewhat extreme fan in retired English football ‘bad boy’ Paul Gascoigne, who last May suggested that footballers should be allowed to drink alcohol because it is good for them since they were under too much pressure. Gascoigne has in the past grappled with alcoholism.
At this rate, football officials may be forced to include alcoblow on the field.
