FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with the European Commission to launch a campaign aimed at helping Europe’s 28 million smokers give up tobacco. "Quit Smoking with Barça" (quitsmokingwithbarca.eu) will harness the success of the European Commission’s “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign and the support of Barça’s millions of fans to help European smokers quit the habit. Such a project has never been tried on such a scale. It is the first time that the European Commission has collaborated with a sporting partner. The program underlines the many benefits of quitting smoking. "Quit Smoking with Barça" offers supporters of Barça, football and sport in general, a personalized health training program with daily quit smoking tips and encouragement from the club itself (FC Barcelona). The EFE reported that Barcelona President Sandro Rosell and European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli were both present at the campaign launch in Brussels on Tuesday. The "first action of the campaign" will be a video of Barça players Xavi Hernández, Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta and Víctor Valdés offering their support to those that want to quit smoking. Apart from its website, Barcelona will also use its Facebook and Twitter accounts to communicate the message (EFE, 9/18).
