Republic of Ireland footballer Callum Robinson

This morning.

Via The Times:

‘...Only journalists with the vaccine were allowed to attend the press conference where Callum Robinson, who plays for West Bromwich Albion in the Championship, appeared on Tuesday. Republic of Ireland Under-21 players were also warned earlier this week that they could miss out on international football unless they were vaccinated for a forthcoming game against Montenegro — which is on a UK red list — but as senior manager Stephen Kenny is adopting a flexible approach.

“We’re not in a position where we can insist on it and we have to respect individuals’s rights as well. That is something that we have to learn to live with,” Kenny said, after being asked would he consider not selecting a player who hadn’t been vaccinated. “That would be very, very strong and sort of be a fairly radical standpoint. At the moment I don’t think that I would do that.”

Asked how many of the current squad of 26 are vaccinated, Kenny replied: “I don’t have an exact number at the moment, but there are a number. A lot of them have been done recently.”

Meanwhile…

Robinson said: “There are managers and people that will want you to do it which is right in their way, the way they think, but everyone has their choice and what they want to do. I wouldn’t force people to do it. It’s your choice and your body.”

Callum Robinson defends decision not to get vaccinated (The Times)

Pic: Sky Sports

Meanwhile…

The League is understood to have last week sent an email to its 20 clubs that said that, according to data it had, only seven of the squads were more than 50% fully vaccinated, “so we have a way to go”.

The email, as initially reported by the Telegraph, continued: “We are considering if and how best we can ‘reward’ those squads/players who are most Covid-compliant and who have opted to be vaccinated.

Premier League consider ‘reward’ to boost vaccination rates (RTÉ)