Elite athletes and tobacco: they shouldn’t mix, but these pictures of top footballers smoking show that there are plenty of naughty boys plying their trade in the beautiful game.
Man Utd and Belgium star Marouane Fellaini is the latest to be caught in the act, a furtive photo having been taken of him smoking a cigar with his brother while holidaying in Ibiza.
He’s far from the only one, mind – some of football’s biggest and most successful names have been snapped puffing away, albeit with no little controversy.
Bearing all the appropriate health warnings in mind, have a look at the following 24 pictures of footballers smoking:
Marouane Fellaini
As mentioned, here’s the extravagantly coiffured midfielder-cum-target man taking in a poolside cigar with his doppelgänger of a sibling:
Fellaini smoking a cigar on holiday! Where's the Fire Marshall? Those trees could go up at any minute!#MUFC pic.twitter.com/eyVrJEkAmo
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) July 6, 2016
Jack Wilshere
The injury-prone Arsenal scamp has been caught out not once but twice – first for a cigarette outside a nightclub:
Jack wilshere is out for 10 weeks. cigarettes anyone? pic.twitter.com/0ICI8DKOw2
— Isaac schweinsteiger (@isaacgbenga7) November 25, 2014
And once with a hookah pipe:
Roy Hodgson: There's nothing wrong with Jack Wilshere's shisha smoking – I've done it myself pic.twitter.com/BbWe7k3F1e
— Sokkaa (@ThisIsSokkaa) February 13, 2015
Mind you, his manager enjoyed the odd touchline smoke back in the day:
#Arsenal Arsene Wenger: I used to smoke in the dugout and was a cigarette salesman pic.twitter.com/ntrQMRo90M
— joe hari darmawan (@jhdofficial14) January 10, 2015
Zinedine Zidane
Wilshere tried to justify his smoking by tweeting this picture of France legend Zidane:
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) October 4, 2013
He was met with a curt rebuttal (not from the real Gareth Bale, we hasten to add):
.@JackWilshere Zidane won a world cup single handily. You lost a league cup final to a team that got relegated.
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale22) October 4, 2013
Wayne Rooney
Here’s the Man Utd and England striker looking somewhat at ease, if not exactly graceful, with a fag in hand:
@alkapranos @BowieSmoking Alex, not everyone looks cool smoking, just ask Rozza @WayneRooney pic.twitter.com/jUO4gdqCgc
— David McDougall (@achtung_davie) September 30, 2015
Wojciech Szczęsny
What is it about Man Utd and Arsenal? Here’s the Gunners’ Polish goalkeeper, in a rather fetching hat, smoking with a bevy of belles at a pub in Warsaw:
Again, Wojciech Szczesny caught smoking when enjoyed night out with friends at pub in Warsaw, Poland. #Arsenal #afc pic.twitter.com/RE9Ws1OJpP
— Info Arsenal (@infoAFC) June 5, 2015
Gerard Piqué (x2) and Cesc Fàbregas
Barcelona and Spain defender Piqué celebrated winning the 2015 Champions League by kicking back with a dressing room cigar alongside Pepe Reina:
Note to Jack Wilshere: These are the circumstances in which it's ok for a footballer to be photographed smoking. pic.twitter.com/tHig0ffgRi
— Scottish Comedy FC (@ScotComFC) June 6, 2015
But it wasn’t the first time he’s been pictured smoking – here he is alongside Fàbregas, now of Chelsea:
Pique and Cesc share a Cigar! pic.twitter.com/yRh4Zsspcm
— Ronak Monga (@ronakmonga_fcb) January 30, 2014
Mesut Özil
Another to add to the Arsenal contingent of smokers, here’s the German play-maker toking on a beach:
Mesut Ozil looking like a character from the Godfather movies here, right down to the sneaky tab he's smoking pic.twitter.com/XzesiSR7mU
— Eugene Wong (@EWHK70) July 31, 2014
And, true to his Turkish ancestry, here he is purchasing his very own hookah pipe:
"@90thMin: Arsenal's Mesut Ozil buys SHISHA pipe as Wenger denies club has smoking problem pic.twitter.com/ma8ZvTGpoc"
— JAMES DADA BABATUNDE (@smgofgod) February 7, 2015
Neymar
Brazil’s current golden boy was caught puffing away in a dressing gown:
Neymar smoking pic.twitter.com/oXjSCkxkoP
— Kyle coats (@kylecoats12) June 29, 2015
Mario Balotelli
It’s not just Balotelli’s kitchen that goes up in smoke – his relatively prolific habit could well be a reason for his total loss of form:
Jack #wilshere beware. Smoking is not only bad for your health but you also end up playing like this fella. #stopNow pic.twitter.com/Ml1ph8T9na
— Nitin Kundra (@NitinKundra) February 6, 2015
no time"@samuelJayC: Milan forward Balotelli seen smoking whilst on holiday in Miami. pic.twitter.com/b63uqEiYPa"
— Nako (@__nakos__) July 10, 2014
Ashley Cole
The former Chelsea and England left-back is another serial toker:
"@football_pict: Ashley Cole caught smoking pic.twitter.com/6rYre6aUoD"
— andi (@dhanandikaN) June 22, 2013
Tut tut Ashley cole smoking pic.twitter.com/6fv0ZCjI
— Indie (@harrison7ford) September 25, 2012
Didier Drogba
As his career wound down with Galatasaray in Turkey, the Chelsea legend clearly figured he might as well enjoy a cigar:
sigara koşmaya engel olamaz hele ki puro #drogba #smoking pic.twitter.com/FFs32y5zfz
— sezer yaaa (@bil_sezerian) May 6, 2013
Dimitar Berbatov
Surely one of the less surprising entrants on this list. With his languid playing style, you wouldn’t have been all that surprised to see him light up mid-match:
Digital Berbatov can pull off smoking…. pic.twitter.com/GL6WAObVDB
— Vochey (@vochey88) April 1, 2016
Dimitar Berbatov lectures Jack Wilshere about smoking http://t.co/KRaYbB5DxH pic.twitter.com/AItkABRMd1
— Brooks Peck (@BrooksDT) February 6, 2015
Gianluigi Buffon
The legendary Juventus and Italy goalkeeper, everyone:
Wesley Sneijder
He may or may not have been in the deckchair next to Buffon:
Marouane Chamakh and Adel Taraabt
You can take the boys out of Morocco, and all that:
Wenger angered by seeing Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal) with Adel Taraabt (QPR) smoking shisha after the game @afcNews_ar pic.twitter.com/i1VlD0m5
— Mohammed Al Ghanim (@msalghanim) April 3, 2012
Jack Grealish
This isn’t exactly a photo of the Aston Villa youngster smoking, but it’s highly suggestive of it:
Not one newspaper arsed itself to talk about Grealish. But Wilshere & Szczesny must be slated for smoking a cigarette pic.twitter.com/sdqSfTQRHM
— Hassan Rimmani (@HassanRimmani) June 15, 2015