Warsaw, Oct 21 (IANS): Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has imposed a ban on smoking and tobacco advertising at next year's European Championship Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
The ban has been a joint initiative launched by UEFA, the World Health Organisation, organisational committees in Poland and Ukraine, and local groups of support, reports Xinhua.
The ban will apply in and around all eight host stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.
"A tobacco free Euro 2012 means respect for the health of our spectators and everyone else involved in the tournament," UEFA president Michel Platini was quoted as saying.
The 16-nation Euro 2012 soccer championships, slated for June 8-July 1, 2012, will take place in four Polish cities of Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan and Ukraine's Kiev, Lvov, Donetsk and Kharkov cities.