FC Barcelona is about to start a campaign called ‘A smoke-free Camp Nou’ to encourage members and fans not to smoke in the stadium.
Public presentation of campaign
As well as the announcement by Toni Freixa on Tuesday, in the coming days the club is also
preparing a public presentation of the initiative, which will detail all of the different actions
that FC Barcelona has implemented in recent months.
The last meeting of the Board of Directors decided to set up this initiative in the coming weeks.
"It supposes FC Barcelona’s awareness of the values of health, sport and respect for
children, as Barça is eminently a family club” said spokesman Toni Freixa.
Proposal for Assembly
Beyond this campaign, FC Barcelona will be going a step forward in the fight
against tobacco by proposing a total ban in the stadium. This will have to be put to the Assembly
of Representatives, and would mean no smoking not only on the terraces, but in all of the indoor
spaces too.
Immediate ban in indoor passages
In his talk, Freixa pointed out that due to new regulations, smoking is already
forbidden in all indoor passageways in the stadium. The new legislation specifies that smoking is
illegal "in all public or collectively used enclosed spaces located in sports facilities or leisure
centres where food is served ".
Other club facilities
Smoking has already been forbidden for several years in the Palau Blaugrana and the new law
has also meant that smoking is outlawed throughout the Ciutat Esportiva 'Joan Gamper'.
European regulations
The FC Barcelona initiative is in line with similar campaigns around Europe. In the
United Kingdom, the 2007 law banned smoking in all enclosed spaces, and any premises with more than
50% of its surface covered is considered enclosed. As some football stadiums are semi-covered, the
British decided on a blanket ban in all sports stadiums.
Other countries have not taken such extreme measures and it is the clubs themselves that have
placed limitations on smoking. Two examples of this are Ajax Amsterdam and Bayer Leverkusen. FIFA
is also in favour of prohibition, and all World Cup stadiums in 2002 and 2010 were no smoking
zones.