Erstellt am: 20. 10. 2011 - 13:57 Uhr
A Smoke-Free Euro 2012
In his book, “Iron in the Blood” football fan John Powles quotes a journalist who had been watching a game in the London league in the late 19th century. "I am not an anti-tobacconist,” he wrote, ”but I do not think it is at all good form for a goalkeeper to be seen smoking a cigarette in goal whilst the game is in progress, and for a linesman to be seen smoking a pipe.”
We are into the second decade of the 21st century and times have moved on. None of the linesmen will be smoking pipes at next year`s European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine, indeed the whole tournament will be tobacco free.
The decision, announced today, means consumption, sale and promotion of tobacco products will be banned not only in all stadia involved in the tournament but also to zones within stadia perimeters, “both indoors and outdoors”.
"Tobacco and Football don't mix"
“Football and sport is about health and performance, and tobacco is about the opposite: they just don’t mix,” said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education and Youth, responding to the ban which was made after consultation with the European branch of the World Health Organization. The WHO claims says that tobacco contributes to the deaths of some 650,000 European Union citizens every year,” including thousands who never smoked but had to breathe the smoke from others.” They say the policy at the world`s third largest sporting event will "send a strong message."
PAP/JACEK BEDNARCZYK
UEFA President Michel Platini says the ban is about "respecting the health of our spectators." The WHO says smoke-free environments are becoming the norm around the world and that "more and more Europeans have come to expect clean air in public places."
Ukrainian "Health Tragedy"
The ban goes beyond the current tobacco restriction in the host nations, but both governments have welcomed the decision.
The Polish Minister of Health, Ewa Kopacz, said: “Tobacco use is an addiction that kills 60,000 Poles a year. Taking tobacco out of EURO 2012 doesn’t take the fun out of football; it just makes the tournament safer for all involved and helps Poland tackle one of its biggest health problems.”
Ukraine`s Minister of Health, Oleksandr Anischenko called tobacco use “a big health tragedy.”
Are football and smoking incompatible? Some footballers do still smoke, of course. Wayne Rooney, who will miss the entire group stage of next year`s tournament because of a petulant kick, was recently photographed on holiday with a cigarette in his mouth and earned much approbation from the tabloids. His team-mate Dimitri Berbatov is apparently a smoker and former England`s former calamitous goalie David James recently admitted to a "filthy" 15-year 20-a-day habit which he has since kicked. Brazilan genius Socrates, a star of the 1970s who is sadly currently struggling with alcohism, is a smoker as was Johann Cruyff before his heart surgery.
In his autobiography, Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn admitted to having a quick cigarette in the Wembley toilets alongside four team-mates trying to calm their nerves before the 1951 FA cup. If you think that is a romantic image of a less disapproving age, it is worth remembering that Milburn died far too young of lung cancer.
Kristina Mauer-Sender from the WHO`s Tobacco Control Program:
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