There is a major division among professional footballers on covid vaccination around the world and the Italian Serie A isn’t any different.

A few players and staff are yet to be vaccinated at various clubs and they might be forced to do that soon.

Adrien Rabiot tested positive for the infection recently in a clear sign that some Juventus players may be unvaccinated.

Now FIGC President Gabriele Gravina says they have worked too hard to get the game going again and hints they might force unvaccinated players to do so if they intend to play in Serie A or Serie B.

“I asked the AIC (Players Association) and the Lega Serie A and B to make players aware of the situation with some persuasion,” explained Federation chief Gravina via Footbal Italia.

“We have 4-5 per cent of players who don’t have the full vaccine Green Pass, but for some of them it’s because they received a vaccine that isn’t recognised in our country.

“We will verify the situation and if there are figures that suggest the football environment is not secure, we will ask the Government for an ad-hoc move, similar to the one used for personnel in schools.

“Even with the existing protocols, if there are ‘anti-vax’ people who enter the locker room, they create a very high risk. We cannot afford another debacle after all the sacrifices that have been made.”

Juve FC Says

With Italy being one of the worst-hit countries in Europe when the coronavirus first struck the continent last year, Serie A would be worried about another shutdown.

Clubs in the competition are still struggling to recover from the financial losses they suffered from the shutdown of Serie A last year.

They cannot afford another one and it might be the right step to field only vaccinated players in the competition.

On the other side, everyone has the right to choose to be vaccinated or not and this will always be a big debate.