Albion’s mascots Gully, Sally and Sammy are to be stood down as part of new measures the club is implementing against the spread of coronavirus.
Brighton and Hove Albion already announced they would be asking players not to use high fives and fist bumps and post-match selfies would be off the cards.
Today, ahead of Saturday’s game against Arsenal, it said it was also providing hand sanitisers where possible and antibacterial hand wash in all washrooms in the stadium, subject to the supplies available to us.
Supporters will also be permitted to bring travel-sized hand sanitisers into the stadium (up to 100ml) in a clear plastic container.
Supporters won’t be permitted to congregate in and around the players entrance and route to and from the stadium, in line with the guidance we issued to players not to pose for selfies or sign autographs.
A spokesman for the club said: “We also ask all supporters to take personal responsibility for their hygiene, and importantly ask any supporter who has returned from one of the locations or is displaying symptoms that are consistent with the virus to ensure they familiarise themselves with the government’s advice on self-isolation.
“We will continue to liaise closely with the relevant authorities and follow Government, NHS and Premier League advice, and with this in mind we have updated our guidance.
“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.”
The measures Albion are now taking are as follows, with new measures in bold.
- 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 sanitisers as an alternative
- encouraging cashless and contactless payments, where possible, across the stadium
- postponing pre-match mascots walking out with the team, and pre-match centre-circle sponsors photographs
- standing down Gully, Sally and Sammy mascots until further notice
- cancelling post-match man-of-the-match presentations in 1901 Club
- restricting direct physical contact, such as handshakes, hugging, high-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 squads
- restricting players posing for selfies and signing autographs pre-match and post-match at the stadium
