England, Tuchel raises the alarm not vaccinated

“It’s a personal choice, but I would think twice before signing an unvaccinated player.” The sentence from the USA by Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea coach on tour without N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, not admitted on the other side of the Atlantic precisely because they are not vaccinated, helps to reopen the curtain on the relationship between Premier players League and Covid, and how this can have repercussions on everything, from the market to the World Cup. Yes, because even in Qatar in November the vaccination status could make a difference.

TUCHEL

–

“I have in mind some players that I would take even if not vaccinated – said the Chelsea manager – but for the most part that is a topic that we must take into consideration. We cannot force a player to get vaccinated: doing so is a normal choice in Italy. this moment, but there are those who decide not to do it like N’Golo and Ruben. We have to respect the rules and they know the consequences “. Kante and Loftus-Cheek remained in London to train with the Under 23, but they have already lost a week of preparation with the team and will lose at least another, given that the Blues will not return from the US until next Sunday. And if two weeks away from Tuchel are not a problem for Kante, for a player who has to convince the coach to trust him like Loftus-Cheek he could become.

THE EXCLUDED

–

It is not only Chelsea among the Premier teams (in January the league had talked about 80% of players vaccinated, but then did not update the data) that have to deal with the vaccination status of their players. Pep Guardiola had to exclude Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones from the City tour in the US for the same reason, sending them instead to train with the unser 23 in Croatia. Gundogan’s case is particularly quirky: the 31-year-old had Covid in September 2020, he took the first dose last summer and in Germany he is considered vaccinated with all possible doses, contrary to the US law that obliges foreign citizens to be in equal with the vaccination available to them (third and fourth doses included) in order to enter the country. It went even worse at Crystal Palace: eight players, including Wilfried Zaha, stayed in London rather than touring Singapore and Australia because “they were not eligible to enter,” the club pointed out in a statement. It’s not just a summer friendlies issue: a Telegraph investigation conducted with interviews with anonymous agents and executives highlighted how a player’s vaccination status is one of the first topics of conversation during a negotiation, with unvaccinated players doing the most. struggling to find a new team. As if Tuchel’s statement, “I would think twice before hiring an unvaccinated”, were already a reality.

QATAR

–

It is for Gareth Southgate, the England coach struggling with a World Cup problem linked to vaccination status. The law currently in force in Qatar provides that non-vaccinated people must go through a 5-day quarantine period before being admitted to the country, without exception for footballers. The program of the vice-champions of Europe foresees the arrival in Qatar six days before their match with Iran on November 21st which inaugurates their tournament: the unvaccinated therefore risk missing the last part of the preparation and the match. debut, so much so that the coach is already considering whether to bring only vaccinated players to Qatar. Fifa could give him a hand: it is asking the country that will host the World Cup to provide exceptions for players. Otherwise Southgate and the other coaches could be forced to make difficult choices.