AUSTRALIA’S Victoria state has mandated that professional athletes must be fully vaccinated by the end of November, ahead of The Ashes and The Australian Open.
The order, issued on Friday, included “professional or high-performance sportsperson, workers that support the safe running of that person’s professional sport.”
In reference to the Ashes which begins on December 8, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said: “I don’t issue passports or visas … but I think it is highly unlikely that the Commonwealth government will be letting anybody into this country that has not been double-vaxxed, certainly in the medium term. That might change over time.”
Nine-time Australian Open champion is among those to have expressed reservations against the vaccine, though his current immunisation status remains unknown.
Australian cricket captain Tim Paine has also said that the Ashes will go ahead even if England captain Joe Root refuses to travel, as he has suggested in protest against the nation’s harsh quarantine rules and disappointment that families will be unable to join.
“The Ashes are going ahead. The first test is on December 8 – whether Joe is here or not,” Paine told radio station SEN Hobart. – Eurosport