AFL supports vaccination push but unlikely to mandate jabs for players, officials

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AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan expects the league to have a vaccination policy in place by the end of the season, but it is unlikely to make vaccinations mandatory for players and officials.

Instead, the AFL has been strongly encouraging vaccinations after rolling out an extensive education process across the clubs.

The AFL has not yet finalised its policy on COVID-19 vaccination, which remains the key to reopening sporting venues such as the MCG.Credit:Getty Images

They are aware that government measures may eventually make it compulsory for people to be vaccinated before entering stadiums, which would make it difficult for someone to have a career in the AFL without being vaccinated.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was clear again on Friday that the state was heading in that direction.

“What will, I think, become a bigger part of their response is a lock out of many, many venues for those who are not vaccinated. Now that might seem a bit harsh, but I’ve said this before, and I’ll make the point again that I’m not going to lock the whole state down to protect people who won’t protect themselves,” Mr Andrews said.

“If you’re not vaccinated, and you could be, then the chances of you booking a ticket at a sporting event, going to a pub, going to all manner of different places will be very, very limited.”

A number of players have received their first jab post-season on their way to being fully vaccinated, with male players returning to training in early December.

The AFL is keen to prioritise vaccination of AFLW players and officials as that cohort begins pre-season training in October with the first game on January 6, 2022.

McLachlan said on 3AW on Friday that the league would continue to speak to key stakeholders before finalising its policy.

“We are really strongly encouraging everyone to get vaccinated – players, staff, our community, everyone – and the decision on the final policy settings will be made I think certainly by the end of this season,” he said.

“We don’t really need to have the final decision until we have supply which we don’t at the moment. We have been pretty clear, we need to be vaccinated as a community to get out of this tough situation that we are in.”

He indicated compulsory vaccinations were unlikely, but the league was clear that they wanted people at clubs to be vaccinated.

“It’s just a complicated position. We need to work through the process with our clubs, our players, our players association, for the final settings. I think we are pretty strong that we need to be vaccinated,” he said.

The AFLPA, which has been working with the AFL on the issue, remain in broad agreement with the league. They have a general principle that it is an individual’s choice what they put in their body, but they understood the league could help lead the community push for people to be vaccinated.

“We are. It’s really important that all of our players, staff, the industry is educated properly and has all the information to make the decision. We will be wanting to push to have players and others try and lead in the community. We will look at that,” McLachlan said.

A club doctor said they had seen no indication that people within clubs were unwilling to get vaccinated, but imagined, given community attitudes, there would be a percentage within clubs wary about vaccination. But the AFL was likely to use education rather than penalties to encourage vaccination.

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