The owner of Romanian side Steaua Bucharest has sensationally announced the club will ban all players vaccinated against Covid-19 from playing.
Mr Gigi Becali – a Romanian businessman and politician – said he is not allowing vaccinated players to play anymore because they are ‘powerless’.
Becali went on to claim that people who are vaccinated against the virus die in hospitals, as opposed to those who have refused the jabs.
He also claimed players at Romanian rivals CFR Cluj and Rapid Bucuresti were struggling as a result of taking the vaccine, singling out 36-year-old winger Ciprian Deac.
‘You’re going to laugh, but I might be right. Those vaccinated lose their strength. That’s something scientific,’ he said according to Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu.
‘Haven’t you seen it at CFR? With Rapid, the players seemed to be fainting. They slept on the ground. All vaccinated people lose their strength!
‘I also see mine, the vaccinated ones. It doesn’t affect some, but it does affect those who are older. Haven’t you seen [Ciprian] Deac? There is no more storm.’
Becali also recently said Steaua Bucharest striker Claudiu Keseru can no longer play at a high level because he was vaccinated. But his latest statement has drawn a furious reaction from the country’s government.
In a statement, RO Vaccinare, the official Facebook page of the government’s national information platform on vaccination said:’Vaccinated footballers do NOT lose their strength after being vaccinated against COVID-19!
‘From a medical and scientific point of view, there are no studies that would support a singularity like the one recently promoted on Facebook accounts in Romania.
‘Vaccination against COVID-19 does not affect the performance of football players. In contrast, there are enough studies showing that going through SARS CoV-2 infection leaves long-term sequelae (Long COVID), and these can influence athletes’ performance.
‘The bottom line is simple: to stay healthy, to enjoy football, to look at those who trust science and medicine. Please inform yourself ONLY from credible, official sources!’
Romania are one of eight countries with a vaccination rate below 60 percent according to The Local, with the other consisting of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Russia.
However, their current rate of 86.52 doses per 100 population means they have the second lowest in Europe, ahead of only Bulgaria, according to Statista.
Earlier this month, the coordinator of the Romanian national vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghita, confirmed nearly one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, had expired and would therefore be destroyed.
‘We have received a total of 4,478,000 doses, and 852,356 doses have been administered. Some 3.3 mln entered the resale or donation mechanism, including the 917,800 that have expired,’ Gheorghita explained.
