Belgian First Division A club Cercle Brugge has detailed plans to make its Jan Breydel Stadium a completely smoke-free zone from next season.
The club said the decision has been unanimously approved by its board of directors and has been supported by the league and Kom op tegen Kanker (Stand up to Cancer).
The ban will be in effect for the club’s first home match next season, and will also be in place for next month’s friendly against French Ligue 1 team AS Monaco.
Cercle Brugge chairman Frans Schotte said: “This measure is also taken to respond to the voice of our supporters, who have become more and more demanding of us in recent years to introduce a smoking ban. Cercle Brugge is also a family association where the health of all our fans, young and old, is of paramount importance.
“This smoking ban is therefore a logical step in the further professionalisation of Cercle Brugge. Also not unimportant: the survey among our supporters revealed that a vast majority of our fans are in favour of a smoke-free stadium.”
FIFA and UEFA, football’s global and European governing bodies, are keen to make stadia as smoke-free as possible. Venues across the English Premier League and English Football League are already smoke-free.
Cercle Brugge secured promotion back to the top tier of Belgian football last season by winning the second division.
Image: Валерий Дед
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