More Dutch sports clubs banning smoking

The number of Dutch sports clubs that banned smoking more than doubled this past year. Currently the Netherlands counts 1,152 sports clubs and associations that banned smoking partly or completely, compared to around 550 last year, RTL Nieuws reports.

The number of football clubs that banned smoking increased in the same line as other sports clubs, from 208 last year to 432 now. 94 football clubs banned smoking completely, and 338 others are partly smoke-free, football association KNVB said to the broadcaster.

The 3 thousand amateur sports clubs in the Netherland aim to be completely smoke free by 2025. And the professional clubs that play in the Eredivise and Keuken Kampioen Divisie will all ban smoking from the 2020/2021 season.

The KNVB joined 'The smoke-free generation' initiative in 2017. This initiative by the Heart Foundation, cancer foundation KWF and the Lung Fund aims to protect children against smoking and make sure they grow up in a smoke-free environment.