Unvaccinated England players set to avoid covid quarantine at World Cup

Players are now expected to be able to feature in England's opening game

Gareth Southgate is now expected to be able to call upon players who have yet to be vaccinated for England's opening World Cup group stage game. Qatar's current covid regulations require unvaccinated visitors to spend five days in quarantine. England are set to arrive in the Middle East on November 15 ahead of their first tournament game on November 21. Under the rules , it would have meant that all players yet to receive a jab would have missed all training sessions building up to the game, therefore would have missed all training sessions in the build up to the fixture. But reports at The Times have suggested that Qatar are now prepared to relax their policy in preparation for the World Cup. Instead players will required to undergo covid tests every three days, which will be a huge relief to many nations competing. Despite continuous encouragement from FIFA, the Football Association, Premier League and clubs around the world, some players have been reluctant to get the vaccine.

Chelsea boss admits he will think twice about signing players who haven't been vaccinated

Chelsea were forced to leave N'Golo Kanté and Ruben Loftus-Cheek out of their pre-season tour of the USA due to their vaccination status. Ilkay Gundogan was left out of Manchester City's squad for similar reasons. A number of Crystal Palace first-team players missed out on their tour of Australia too including Wilfred Zaha and Michael Olise, however the official reason was never disclosed. Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said that while it was disappointing, the club had to follow the rules. "We need to follow the rules, so they cannot join us. They know about the consequences," he said. "We don’t like it, of course not. We would love to have them here and it’s not an ideal solution. Far from ideal. But once the situation is like this you need to come up with a solution." Tuchel also admitted that a players' vaccination status would come into consideration when it came to signing players in the future. He added: "I know some players who I would also take without vaccination. I have to say. But, yes, it is a part of daily life at the moment." Related links: