Italy imposes vaccines on athletes, cannot play unless vaccinated

The Italian Health Ministry confirmed that athletes who refuse to take the vaccine for COVID-19 will not be allowed to play this season, raising questions about how it will affect foreign teams visiting Italy for Cup competitions.

A new Government decree was finalised Thursday and takes effect from 2 January, reacting to the latest wave of cases with COVID, while the Omitron variant takes power.

This means that the stadium's capacity has been reduced from 75 % to 50 %s by mandatory masks at any time, and only those who have been vaccinated or cured last by COVID can enter.

“Unexploited athletes will not be allowed to play again this period”, Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa told “Radio Punto Nuovo.

There are very few in Serie A that are unexcused, as in October 98 % of the players were vaccinated.

However, with the Champions League, the League of Europe and the League of Conference not mentioning the World Cup poplar in March, it has not been clarified what it will be like for potential opponents who are unexplored. It could lead to a diplomatic incident, depending on how much the vaccine rate in other leagues is evidently lower than at Serie A.