Real no to ashes request

2005-08-08 15:33

Madrid - Real Madrid has turned down more than 300 requests from families of fans to have their ashes scattered at the club's Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Faced with a mounting pile of applications, the soccer giant turned to Madrid's city hall for advice on whether there was any legal barrier to scattering the ashes, daily newspaper El Mundo reported on Monday.

City hall officials told the club that they had no problem with the idea, given that the huge stadium north of downtown Madrid is an open space.

But the club remained uncomfortable with the idea of ashes being scattered on its field, El Mundo said. The paper added that Real Madrid turned down the requests in hopes of preventing the stadium from becoming a "place of pilgrimage".

Real Madrid had no immediate comment on the report.

- SAPA