OLDHAM is hosting a vaping world cup in a bid to tackle misconceptions around e-cigarettes.

Run on a similar structure to the FIFA World Cup, the competition will see representatives from five vape brands, from countries including China and Malaysia, descend upon Oldham’s Kick Sonic arena in a battle to become the top 5-a-side team.

Today’s football competition is the brainchild of Oldham based iBreathe, one of the globe’s first manufacturers of e-cigarettes.

Billy Rahman, the chief executive of iBreathe, said: “We want this World Cup to act as an awareness-raiser and convince people that the real evidence says vaping reduces smoking, illness, deaths and expensive emergency hospital care.

“Vaping is now the NHS’s preferred method of weaning people off cigarettes, but we are being hampered by spurious so-called scientific research and the kind of prejudice that could see all those positives go up in smoke.”

E-cigarette allow users to inhale nicotine in a vapour rather than smoke and do not burn tobacco or produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most damaging elements in tobacco smoke.

A major UK clinical trial published in 2019 found that, when combined with face-to-face support, people who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking were twice as likely to succeed compared to those who used other nicotine replacement products, such as patches or gum.

iBreathe is hoping to raise money for local health charities through the event, including Oldham GP Dr Anita Sharma’s charity Endometriosis Awareness North and the Greater Manchester charity Lagan’s Foundation which provides carers for children with heart defects.

Dr Sharma is set to speak to the teams plus other health chiefs at a ceremony immediately after the Vaping World Cup.

She said: “There are a number of alternatives available to smokers to reduce the amount of toxins they put into their bodies and avoid conditions such as COPD, lung, and tongue cancer. But present evidence suggests vaping may be the most effective method.

“You would never persuade someone with obesity to get healthier by telling them not to eat, you would offer them an incentive and alternative. I feel the same about e-cigarettes, and since they seem to work for most smokers, more power to them.”