FIFA urged to restore smoking ban for World Cup

GENEVA, May 29 (Reuters) Health advocacy groups today urged FIFA to ban smoking at next month's World Cup in Germany after soccer's governing body dropped a smoke-free rule adopted in 2002.

Instead of barring smoking at stadiums, expected to draw about three million people during the month-long tournament starting June 9, FIFA said it would ask fans voluntarily to refrain.

''An outright ban will not apply,'' FIFA said in a statement describing a campaign of posters, audio and video announcements and ''and mantra-like repetition of the key phrase 'No Smoking Please''' to discourage spectators from lighting up.

Sinead Jones, director of the International Union Against Cancer's global smoke free partnership, said the voluntary policy meant smoking would be freely permitted throughout the stadiums.

''They are saying to fans 'don't smoke', but on the other hand there will be absolutely no enforcement there,'' said Jones, whose organisation is appealing for the German tournament to be smoke-free like the last World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

Noting that FIFA is selling branded lighters and ashtrays during the tournament, she said the campaign sent fans a mixed message about tobacco and sports.

''The whole thing is really inconsistent. It seems like a backward step,'' Jones said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) signed a deal with FIFA four years ago to make the 2002 World Cup venues tobacco-free, as are the Olympic Games, in a deal it hoped would set a precedent for future tournaments.

But FIFA declined to renew the agreement for the 2006 event after discussions with the German government and the local organising committee.

Phone calls seeking comment from FIFA and the organising committee in Frankfurt were not immediately returned.

Germany, a heavy smoking country with high state revenues from tobacco taxes, was amongst a handful of rich states in the 192-member WHO to oppose a planned global anti-smoking treaty.

But the pact, with its call for a crackdown on advertising, was eventually agreed in 2003.

With less than two weeks until kick-off, the World Health Professions Alliance, which represents more than 20 million health care workers, said it was critical that the tournament separate its image from the tobacco industry.

Noting that billions of people are expected to watch the televised matches around the world, it said a clear smoke-free message at the World Cup could help save millions of lives.

''We believe that only an outright smoking ban can send out a clear signal against tobacco use,'' the group said in a letter to the FIFA organising committee.

The WHO predicts the number of people dying each year from cancer, cardiovascular disease and other conditions linked to smoking could exceed 10 million by 2020, with 70 percent of victims in developing countries.

REUTERS