Diego Simeone likes the proverbial smoke, but apparently not the real thing. From now on, smoking will be banned at the Civitas Metropolitano, but the club has designated areas where smoking will be allowed. They have even marked out the minutes of the match when you will be allowed to leave the stands for a cigarette.

For the fans and health

The 11-time Spanish champion has announced that smoking is banned at Cívitas Metropolitano from the 2024/25 season. The reasons for the decision are the growing demand from fans for such a step and concern for the health of all spectators.

Smoking is banned not only in the stands, but also on the stairways, corridors, galleries and underground car parks, as well as toilets and rooms; in a word, all spaces inside the Rojiblancos stadium.

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Relief for smokers

However, the club is aware that not everyone will be able to endure the entire match without smoking, so it has designated areas where this can be done. For fans on the third level of the stands, there will be a couple of fully exposed, clearly exposed balconies. The rest of the fans will have to go outside the stadium or to the fan zone.

However, this is not as easy as it may seem. To exit the stadium, you have to go through the gates twice, and time is also limited. You can only do so between the 30th and 70th minute of the match. The time interval, including the interval, therefore counts an hour. Breaking the ban will result in expulsion from the stadium and the withdrawal of your pass or ticket.

The first club in Spain to introduce a smoking ban in its stadium was FC Barcelona, as moking has been banned at Camp Nou since 2012. In the following years, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, San Mamés and Mestalla, among others, joined Blaugrana’s facility in the ban.

© Grzegorz Kaliciak / StadiumDB.com