Warsaw, Feb 28 (IANS) World Health Organization (WHO) wants to ban smoking in fan zones of the Euro 2012 football competition as they see it as a perfect opportunity for promoting physical activity and healthy life-style.
The WHO office in Poland and Volunteers for Sport Foundation are running a series of workshops entitled “Mass events free of tobacco smoke” that zeroes in on smoking bans in Euro 2012 sport facilities.
“We had come out with the initiative because smoking is the cause of most of premature deaths in the world; it practically kills every second smoker,” Anna Koziel of the WHO Polska Office told Xinhua.
The workshops were held in four Polish cities which will hosts Euro matches, namely in Wroclaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Warsaw.
As early as in October 2011 UEFA introduced a total ban on cigarette smoking, selling and tobacco promotion in all facilities related to Euro.
The WHO plans to introduce the same ban in fan zones but the decision hinges with cities that are hosting the championships.
The 16-nation Euro 2012 soccer championships, slated for June 8-July 1, will take place in four Polish cities as well as four Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Lvov, Donetsk and Kharkov.
