Manchester City fans cheer before the start of their FA Cup semi-final football match between themselves … [+]
As much of the UK basks in blisteringly hot summer temperatures, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City have been slammed by a skin cancer charity after telling a fan that sunscreen was not allowed inside the stadium ahead of the team’s match against Bournemouth FC yesterday.
The club’s support services account tweeted saying: “… sunscreen will not be allowed at the entrance to the stadium. We advise fans to apply this before arriving and bring a hat and water.” The fan then answered asking the club to rethink the policy, noting that the temperature would exceed 30°C (>86°F) during the match in bright sun with no shade. Etihad Stadium entry policies prohibit bringing “bottles” into the stadium, but it is unclear if this is the reason for the sunscreen ban.
The charity Melanoma UK called the ban “very worrying”. inciting club to rethink this policy and called for the installation of stadiums sunscreen dispenser, noting that this was easily done with hand sanitizer stations during the pandemic. This has already been done with several sports organizations, including college stadiums and MLB baseball team the Philadelphia Phillies, which ran a pilot in 2017 — though it’s unclear if these are still available.
Melanoma, the most common form of skin cancer, is the 5th most common type of cancer in the UK with 16,700 cases a year and over 2,300 deaths, according to Cancer Research UK.
Manchester City was contacted for comment on the policy and responded saying the tweet had been sent in error and that sunscreen was not banned at the stadium.
“Manchester City can confirm that fans were allowed to bring sunscreen into the Etihad Stadium for Saturday’s game. The tweet in question, which was published in response to an inquiry into the club’s Twitter account on the day of the match, was incorrect and we would like to apologize to supporters for this administrative error. The health and safety of supporters is our priority and we will ensure that internal processes are reviewed following this matter.”
- This article was updated at 2:40pm ET on August 14 to add a statement from Manchester City FC confirming that the tweet was incorrect and sunscreen is allowed inside their stadium.
