Football news - Vaccinated players to be exempt from hotel quarantine after internationals in red-list countries

ByHarry Latham Coyle

Updated 01/10/2021 at 12:32 GMT

Players will have to serve a quarantine period but will be allowed to leave to train or play, with the government reported to be pushing for travel to be done via private charter. A group of Premier League players quarantined in Croatia after travelling to South America during the last international break despite the league's clubs agreeing that players would not be released due to the quarantine.

Fully vaccinated footballers will not have to serve their quarantine period in hotels after playing in red-list countries, the government of the United Kingdom has announced.

Players who have had both jabs will instead be permitted to see out their 10-day isolation in segregated accommodation, and will be permitted to leave once a day to train or play matches.

A number of internationals quarantined in Croatia before a return to the UK during the last international break having travelled back from South American countries on the red-list.

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"We have worked closely with football authorities to achieve an outcome that balances the interests of both club and country while maintaining the highest levels of public health and safety," said a Government spokesperson.

"Our best defence against the virus is vaccination and these new measures will allow fully vaccinated players to fulfil their international duties in the safest, most practical way possible, while allowing them to train and play with their clubs as early as possible on their return."

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The Premier League's clubs agreed not to release players due to play in red-list countries during the previous international break.

However a group of players including Tottenham's Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Davinson Sanchez defied that to join up with their countries, and were forced to miss their side's fixtures whilst quarantining in Croatia.

Now exempt, the players would have been permitted to play and train at the club.

Earlier this week, the Premier League revealed that they were considering "rewarding" clubs with the highest percentage of fully-vaccinated players.

While the league did not specify what the reward would be, it is understood that the league is concerned by a relatively low take-up among squads of the coronavirus vaccine, which has been available to all adults in the UK for several months.

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This follows similar tweaks to Covid-19 regulations in leagues like the National Football League (NFL) and rugby's Gallagher Premiership, which relaxes protocols for its 13 clubs once 85% of players and staff are vaccinated.

A Sky Sports survey revealed that as many as 13 of the 20 top-tier football clubs had fewer than 50% of players vaccinated, though Wolverhampton Wanderers believe that every player at the club is vaccinated.

Brentford and Leeds also reported to have high levels of vaccine take-up.

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