The Italian Ministry of Health has confirmed that athletes who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine will be banned from playing for the rest of the season.
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The announcement was released on football Italia’s website on Wednesday, December 30th, 2021. According to reports, the decision was taken because of the recent outbreak of the omicron variant of the Coronavirus. The law will come into effect from January 2nd, 2022.
It was also confirmed in the statement that the stadium capacity has been reduced from 75 percent to 50 percent, with masks mandatory at all times and only those who are vaccinated or recently recovered from COVID will be granted entry into the stadium.
The anti-vax athletes will not be allowed to play again this season. The pandemic is a very dynamic situation and we cannot afford to waste all the sacrifices we have made over the last two years. We have made a clear delineation o this decree between those who are vaccinated and those who decide against it. Let us not forget that eight out of 10 intensive care beds are occupied by the unvaccinated.
This key concern is how players who are yet to be vaccinated will be affected by this decision when they come to Italy to compete for Cup competitions like the UEFA Champions League or the Europa League.
