Barcelona utilised in innovative anti-smoking drive
21 Sep 2012
FC Barcelona has signed an innovative partnership with the European Commission, which will see the club support the EC’s anti-smoking campaign.
‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ (quitsmokingwithbarca.eu) aims to harness the success of the EC’s ‘Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable’ campaign in a bid to help Europe’s 28 million estimated smokers kick the habit. Barcelona states the partnership between a leading sports club and a European institution is unprecedented. “Through this collaboration we will seek to help football supporters across Europe to take back control of their health and their lives, encouraging them to be as passionate about their health as they are about the ‘beautiful game’,” said Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell. “At Barça we firmly believe in our slogan ‘more than a club’ and we promote values of respect, health and social commitment. Our fans and members have given us their unconditional support and dedication for 113 years, and it is our duty to look after their most important asset of all – their health.”
Quit Smoking with Barça offers a personalised health training programme with daily quit smoking tips and encouragement direct from players and other club officials. The campaign will be powered by iCoach, a free digital health tool already helping almost a quarter of a million people across Europe give up smoking.
John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumers, added: “The European Commission has a solid track record in raising awareness about smoking and in delivering successful tobacco control measures across the EU. Our ‘Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable’ campaign is helping hundreds of thousands of men and women on their journey towards a smoke-free life, and this collaboration should help amplify our message. Using the universal language of football, we can support more Europeans in their efforts to quit smoking and becoming unstoppable ex-smokers for life.”
