Poll
'I don't see any true light at the end of the tunnel' - CEO suggests clubs could pay for Covid-19 vaccines
Ipswich Town and Portsmouth are among a number of League One clubs hit by coronavirus outbreaks. Pompey CEO Mark Catlin says team may have to consider vaccinating players privately to complete the season - Credit: PA
The CEO of one of Ipswich Town's promotion rivals says he can see a moral issue looming in the fight to keep the football season going in the face of the resurgent coronavirus crisis - should players be vaccinated privately?
Portsmouth's Mark Catlin, whose club, like Town, are one of a number of League One sides who have been hit by outbreaks of Covid-19, prompting match postponements, said teams may have to consider paying for vaccinations.
He told the Portsmouth News: "I don’t see any true light at the end of the tunnel until the vaccine starts having an effect.
"I know this opens up a huge moral issue, similar to the tests where clubs and our governing bodies are paying for the tests privately, whether morally it would be right to vaccinate players privately.
"I just don’t know or have the answers to that and I don’t think anyone does at this moment in time.
"It’s not just in football we need to consider the answers. It’s in politics for MPs and what’s done for front-line workers.
"There’s a question for a whole host of industries. If they have the finances to vaccinate their key staff, I’m sure the question will come in certain industries.
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"Is that the right moral thing to do or not?
"I’m not the moral compass for society, but it’s just a question I can see being thrown out there."
