On my head, sun! Fans blast City ban on tan lotion
SUPPORTERS NOT ALLOWED TO BRING CREAM INTO STADIUM AS TEMPERATURES REACH HIGH OF 32C
ANGRY fans have blasted City after they told supporters they could not bring sunscreen into Saturday’s game against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, despite the extreme weather.
The game kicked off at 3pm, when temperatures across Greater Manchester were reaching highs of around 32C.
Ahead of the game, City’s Supporter Services tweeted that spectators at the game could bring in a 500ml disposable water bottle with them to the game in order to ‘stay hydrated.’
In response to the tweet, fan Elliott Levy asked: “Genuine question – can we bring in suncream? I’m in East Stand lower and the sun will be beating down.”
In response to the tweet, @ManCityHelp replied to say sun cream could not be brought into the stadium.
The response said: “Hi Elliot, sun cream will not be permitted on entry into the Stadium. We advise supporters to apply this before coming and to bring a hat and water.”
Elliott, under the Twitter username @elltells79, replied: “Seriously? On a day like this, I think you need to urgently have a rethink. The East
Stand lower tier is going to be drenched in 30 degree heat all afternoon and you’re telling people that they’re NOT ALLOWED to bring sun cream? We have to bake in it for two hours with no shade?”
The decision was met with outrage from other fans who also questioned the ‘ridiculous’ decision.
@Steptoesyard said ‘appalling this,’ while @AlexanderBhoy88 described the move as ‘appalling behaviour.’
@Azul_76 posted: “Ridiculous. Recommendation is to apply sunscreen at least every two hours If the reasoning is ‘supporter safety’ what about the safety when in the sun during or after the game? Not everyone goes straight from home door to the ground and back either.” One fan replied to the post to say they were travelling with a relative who recently had skin cancer, with @ManCityHelp replying to the supporter asking them to email over details if they needed to ‘bring anything into the Stadium for medical reasons.’
The response received further reactions from fans, with @M35Blue saying: “Seriously you expect everyone to email to bring in sunscreen!”.
In response, @ManCityHelp said: “Not everyone, no. If you need to bring a prohibited item into the stadium for any game, due to medical reasons, you can do so by emailing our access team”.
The club has also been criticised by a skin cancer charity.
Melanoma UK, the country’s leading melanoma patient organisation, branded City’s policy ‘disappointing’ and ‘very worrying.’
It said: “You must be aware of the increase in skin cancers and the danger of UVA & UVB? Not here to criticise, but this is very worrying. Happy to work with you in awareness. Many footballers have had melanoma. Your supporter services team have got this wrong. You cannot expect a stadium full of fans (many of them children) not to have sunscreen with them.
“Help protect them – link up with someone who can provide the sunscreen inside the stadium. This is so disappointing.”
The M.E.N has approached City for comment.