Veteran reporter Caroline Wilson has revealed the AFL is facing some hurdles in their quest to get the league vaccinated ahead of next season.
The AFL is yet to announce its stance on vaccine requirements and whether it will be mandatory for players.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan told the West Australian yesterday it “would be difficult” to continue playing unless the competition was vaccinated, but also added: “If we can land where we don’t even need to have a policy, that would be a pretty good outcome.”
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Wilson revealed the AFL and the Players Association are in a battle to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations, with the latter not ready to tick off on the decision.
“The AFL wants mandatory vaccinations,” Wilson told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“The last piece of the puzzle is the AFL Players Association, but they don’t want to be the ones to mandate it.
“The AFL is confident now that of the non-grand final clubs, all the others are now 80 per cent – had their first jab.
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“They’ve spoken to Indigenous groups, they’ve spoken to the women’s players – all have different issues with vaccinations, but they’re confident it will happen anyway.”
Outside of Australia, major sporting leagues such as the NFL, NBA and English Premier League have chosen not to mandate the vaccination, but have imposed restrictions on non-vaccinated players.
But in Australia’s NBL, which also hasn’t mandated vaccination, a trend is emerging of unvaccinated players being turned away. The New Zealand Breakers earlier this week parted ways with star Tai Webster due to his refusal to get the vaccine.
Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said players wouldn’t be able to travel interstate if they turned down the vaccination.
“You won’t get on a plane, you won’t be playing interstate for a start,” McGuire said.
“You won’t get on a plane unless you’re double-vaxxed.”
Meanwhile, Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd believes players who aren’t in the club’s top five will have their contracts torn up.
“That’s what has me thinking – if you’re a top-five player, the club could potentially cope with you missing a few interstate games,” Lloyd said.
“But if you’re in the bottom percentage of players, It’s career over, isn’t it?”
Responding to Lloyd, Wilson added: “I think so,”
“I think it will become a story. There will be privacy issues and people won’t want to talk about it.
“They were going to make a decision on Monday and instead there was a bit of debate at the commission table.”
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