Friday 23 July 2021
Pressure on vaccination is growing
New corona rules outrag NFL stars
The NFL wants to introduce tougher corona rules in order to be able to pull through the coming season in 18 weeks. It should be planned that a major corona outbreak among non-vaccinated players will, in the worst case, result in a defeat for the team concerned.
In light of the NFL’s new corona vaccination policy, football star DeAndre Hopkins has questioned his career in the US professional league. “I never thought I would say that,” tweeted the Arizona Cardinals receiver: “But that I would endanger the success of my team by not participating in the vaccination makes me question my future in the NFL.”
Hopkins, who is still tied to the Cardinals until 2025 and would forego around 70 million euros in salary if he retired early, deleted his tweet shortly afterwards and cryptically posted “Freedom?” (Freedom?). Other NFL professionals made a similar statement.
The league had informed the clubs that a corona outbreak among unvaccinated players of a team would lead to a defeat if the match could not be made up. This is to ensure that the season, which begins on September 9, can be completed within the planned time frame.
NFL wants to significantly increase vaccination rates
The letter from the NFL to the clubs states that a game will be counted as lost if not enough professionals are available and the game cannot be postponed. In addition, if the game is canceled, no player gets his salary for that match day – this applies to both the team that caused the cancellation and the “innocent” opponent. The polluter team pays for the costs incurred. In addition, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could impose further penalties.
The NFL wants to proceed differently with vaccinated players. “If a club cannot play due to a corona outbreak among vaccinated people, we will try to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams,” the NFL said in a letter. The league apparently wants to force a higher vaccination rate within the teams. In the USA, the corona numbers are rising again significantly, and the vaccination rate is also falling.
According to information, more than 78 percent of the players in the NFL have received at least one vaccination, and at least 85 percent of the players in 14 clubs are vaccinated. All 32 teams should have a vaccination rate of at least 50 percent for the players, it is said. It is currently the case that an NFL team with a vaccination rate of over 85 percent benefits from relaxation in everyday training. Vaccinated players can now free themselves from quarantine with two negative tests within 24 hours if they are positive and asymptomatic. Unvaccinated players, on the other hand, should remain in isolation for ten days and have no contact with the team.
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