The World Cup in Qatar next year has already faced lots of hurdles from sorting out the football calendar to concerns over their human rights record, but it also looks like there will be some controversy over Covid-19 and player’s vaccine status.
At this point it appears that the accepted science is that the vaccine means you can still contract the virus but you’re much less likely to die, and we’re moving towards a place where you really need to have it if you want to attend any large-scale public events.
The World Cup will be no different, and this piece of news could be a nightmare for England to deal with:
?? | BREAKING: England’s World Cup hopes have been thrown into disarray (Qatar are planning to ban unvaccinated players) after it emerged at least 5 players are refusing to be vaccinated, including three senior players who played at the Euros.
— Football For All (@FootballlForAll) October 1, 2021
If those three players are key to the team then it immediately weakens them, but there’s also the potential impact on team morale too. It appears we all need to take a side over any kind of issue these days as facts and reasoning go out the window and too many people simply accept a view based on their political alignment, so it’s going to cause rifts and negative coverage if it does become an issue.
The hope will be that things may have changed by the time the tournament starts so this won’t be an issue, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.