Albion players are being asked to avoid high fives and fist bumps, posing for post-match selfies or signing autographs in a bid to stop the coronavirus spreading.
Brighton and Hove Albion this evening announced a series of measures it is putting in place on Government advice.
It said: “In common with other football clubs and many other businesses, in this country and around the world, we are closely monitoring the situation with regard to Coronavirus.
“In particular, we are keen to play our part in preventing the spread of the virus insofar as it is possible and practical for us to do so.
“Currently the risk of widespread infection is still relatively low but, given what we know from across the world, things can change quickly, so we do now consider it to be prudent for us to implement some additional measures to minimise risks to our club, players and staff, based on Government and NHS advice.
“We have also reminded all our staff that in order to minimise the risk (and while it’s not a guarantee) the onus is on all of us to ensure we implement these guidelines in our day-to-day lives, at work, home and school, to minimise the risk of the spread of the coronavirus.
“We would also ask our supporters to help us implement these measures — which we hope will only be for the short term – by cooperating with, and respecting, the temporary restrictions and more limited access to our property, players and staff we are implementing.
“We will of course continue to be guided by the Government, NHS, Premier League and The FA with regard to any further measures which may be necessary to combat the spread to staff and public in future. In the meantime, we apologise for any inconvenience that may be suffered.”
The advice includes, but is not limited to:
- encouraging good hand hygiene, including regular washing with soap and water particularly when switching locations or travelling around
- when washing hands with soap and water isn’t possible, using hand sanitizers as an alternative
- restricting direct physical contact, such as handshakes, hugging, hi-fives, and so on
- ensuring good hygiene in and around office spaces, particularly areas such as desks, computers, kitchens, and so on
- restricting non-essential internal and external meetings at both our stadium and training ground
- encouraging as many meetings as possible to be conducted via Skype or conference calls to limit non-essential travel
- minimising risks from external visitors via a self-certification process, and holding essential meetings away from main office areas
- postponing all player appearances across both our men’s and women’s squads
- restricting all non-essential access to stadium and training ground areas regularly used by our various men’s and women’s playing
- restricting players posing for selfies and signing autographs pre-match and post-match at the stadium
good idea all the time even if no corona