British Government officials came under renewed pressure to scrap their blanket ban on tobacco sports sponsorship yesterday after singling out Formula One for a special exemption.
Motor racing authorities have earned a reprieve from the ban after warning Ministers that Formula One, which receives around £100-million a year from the industry, would go to parts of the world which had no tobacco controls, like Eastern Europe and the Far East.
The British government argue that the removal of grand prix from European regulations would increase the amount of tobacco sponsorship shown during television coverage and reduce the ban to farce.
Instead, motor racing have agreed to abide by a voluntary code of practice including the reduction of tobacco advertising on both helmets and drivers' overalls.
But leading sports officials are now lobbying for all sports - many of whom already follow a voluntary code - to be given a similar reprieve or face the possible end of events like snooker and darts.
"We've been working on a voluntary code for as long as I can remember and it's worked very, very well," stressed Robert Holmes, spokesman for the British Darts Organisation. "That means the sponsor gets very little visual credit during the screening of a tournament, there are no logos, nobody is ever caught smoking in the audience and all of those sort of things which show care and responsibility have been adopted.
"Darts has an old image of a fag in one hand and a pint of lager in the other but that has been cleaned up years ago. This isn't just for the darts you see on television - in tournament play nobody is allowed to drink or smoke."
Jim McKenzie, chief executive of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, was equally incensed over the apparent preferential treatment motor racing has received. He asked: "If the Government is willing to let motor racing work within a voluntary code, why can't it let snooker continue to do so? We have worked under a voluntary code for the past 20 years, during which time the general level of smoking has been reduced, and we believe this should continue across all sports."
The International Automobile Federation (FIA), motor racing's governing body, believes self-regulation is the only way forward to keep the sport in Europe and reach a compromise with officials determined to ban tobacco sponsorship.
"We are willing to assist in achieving a reduction in tobacco sponsorship of Formula One," said FIA president Max Mosley. "We could do this by our own regulations.
"For example, we could require by regulation that no driver carry on overall or helmet any form of tobacco advertising. This would substantially reduce the broadcast impact of such logos which currently feature on the drivers during a race and in pre/post-race interviews and podium ceremonies."
