Premier League clubs encourage players to get jabbed during international break

Premier League players are being encouraged to get vaccinated while on international duty in what could develop into a clash between club and country.

While managers such as Jurgen Klopp and Marcelo Bielsa have been proactive in urging their players to be jabbed, others have been more cautious, as even mild side effects could lead to their stars missing matches.

The two-week international break is being viewed as an opportunity to increase vaccination rates by some clubs, causing tension with international federations reluctant to lose players for World Cup qualifiers.

The FA have indicated their willingness to facilitate vaccination among the England squad by taking them to appointments if required, but they do not have a vaccination centre at St George’s Park.

A significant number of the 23-man England squad who met up to prepare for World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary have yet to be fully vaccinated, but the FA view the jabs drive as primarily an issue for their clubs.

Manager Gareth Southgate will continue to promote the benefits of vaccination while staying out of individual cases.

‘Our medical team would know but they wouldn’t tell me who is and who isn’t (vaccinated),’ Southgate said last week. 

‘I don’t think it is going to affect us that much because whenever the players are with us, we are always going to be in a bubble and on a sporting exemption.

‘The bigger issue is going to be players going back to clubs or clubs travelling in certain countries.’