The official Italian football COVID-19 protocol has been published, with nine players testing positive the cut-off point for a quarantine and no vaccine mandate.

The protocol has been agreed by the sporting authorities, the local health authorities (ASL) and the Government.

It means there should no longer be any dangerous cross-over of responsibility with the ASL over-ruling the football protocol.

The ASL can intervene to order a group into quarantine only if at least 35 per cent of the players have tested positive for COVID-19.

Because the Serie A squads are limited to 25 players, it has been decided that means nine players rather than eight.

Those who do test positive will be isolated and monitored.

The important development is that those considered high-risk close contacts must have a daily antigen test for at least five days and wear a FFP2 level mask at all times other than when taking part in the sporting activity.

It was believed the vaccination status would create different treatment, but that has now been removed from the protocol.

That means even those who have not been vaccinated will be given the same five-day testing process if they are close contacts.

All players must provide a negative antigen test, taken four hours before the match.

There had been fears a Government decree would mean unvaccinated players could not even enter the locker room after January 10 and therefore be excluded from taking part, but that has been scrapped.

It is hoped Serie A should have enough coverage, as 98 per cent of players were fully vaccinated in October 2021 and are having booster shots.

2 thought on “Serie A COVID protocol finalised, no vaccine mandate”
  1. Good news. Common sense wins. The data does not support imposing mandates. It will be interesting now that new studies showing people boosted are contracting the virus more than double. Questions on immune efficiency and the bodies capacity to build itself.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector