Ex-Russia and England boss wants pay cuts for ‘selfish’ unvaxxed players

Football legend Fabio Capello has blasted "selfish" unvaccinated players and claimed they should be punished with pay cuts.

The Italian great, who has managed the English and Russian national teams, reacted to fresh rules imposed by his country's top flight, the Serie A.

They demand that from January 10 onwards, in line with new regulations passed by the national government, players must be vaccinated to feature in games and can no longer hide behind negative PCR tests.

It has been reported that 98% of stars in the championship have received the vaccine, but Capello still went in hard on those that have thus far declined. 

"I can imagine the footballers’ sources," Capello told La Gazzetta dello Sport, as translated by Football Italia, in a nod to misinformation that has been circulated as per the side effects of vaccinations.

Capello had stern words for anyone unvaccinated. © PA Images via Getty Images

"Not getting the vaccine is an act of selfishness and if police officers are obliged to do so, I don’t see why footballers should be excluded.

"Who doesn’t get the vaccine causes damage to society and should see his salary reduced," the 75-year-old former AC Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid tactician suggested. 

But whereas there have been widespread postponements in the Premier League, where full vaccinations were reported on December 20 as running at 77% with a further 7% receiving at least their first jab, Capello does not think Serie A "will stop".

"Those who are vaccinated contract the virus in a lighter way and don’t take as long to recover," he said.

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Over in Germany, vaccinations in football have long been a hot topic with Bayern Munich ace Joshua Kimmich made a pariah for his anti-vax stance before towing the line.

On his 70th birthday, club legend Uli Hoeness, who shone for the Bavarians both as a player and manager, is in the headlines for his comments.

Hoeness said to Die Zeit he was "totally in favor of vaccinations but not for mandatory vaccinations". 

"What do you do with a person who absolutely does not want to get vaccinated?" he asked before citing Kimmich as a "fantastic example that you can change your mind".

"I've spoken with him once or twice without putting on pressure. I give him credit for standing up and saying, 'I misjudged this'. I wish more people would do that.

"I think it's good that he wants to get vaccinated as soon as it's possible. That can give a lot of dissenters an impetus," Hoeness explained.

Above all, however, the remarks that have attracted the most attention are Hoeness saying he "can become quite militant if someone does not get vaccinated."

"You have to systematically exclude these people because it is quite inconsiderate not to be vaccinated," Hoeness said, even though his stance is that compulsory vaccinations "would divide society even more."