How new Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri is getting around the smoking ban on the touchline

Maurizio Sarri appears to have found a way of getting his nicotine fix during Chelsea matches despite smoking being banned in stadiums.

You can buy nicotine patches and gum to satisfy cravings rather than puffing away but the new Blues coach was spotted doing something different on Saturday.

The Italian made his Premier League debut in the dugout at Huddersfield as he orchestrated a convincing 3-0 victory at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Management can be stressful and the former Napoli boss is said to smoke up to 80 cigarettes a day and was previously known to partake in one or two on the touchline.

However, smoking has been banned in the UK in workplaces and enclosed public spaces since 2006 to deny him that pleasure during his time at Stamford Bridge.

To get around the ban, Sarri was pictured chewing on a cigarette on the touchline in Huddersfield rather than lighting up.

“I am really very happy because in the first part of the season I think that for us it is not easy to gain points,” the Chelsea boss said after the victory.

“The first half was hard. If you look at the result, you can think about an easy game, but in the first half we were in trouble for 15 minutes against a very physical team.

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“We are not a physical team and I think the best of the game is the capacity of suffering for 15 minutes.

“Then I think in the second half the opponents were a bit tired and it was easier.”

Sarri is known to be extremely superstitious and once crashed into one of his players’ cars on purpose believing it to help him win a match.

Given the success of his team this weekend, perhaps we can expect to see Sarri chewing away on unlit cigarettes for the rest of the season.