Friday, April 16, 2021 at 5:18 PM• Dominic Mostert

The KNVB would like to see players of the Dutch national team vaccinated against the corona virus before the European Championship, confirms a spokesperson for the football association in conversation with the Algemeen Dagblad. Certainly if that also happens in other participating countries, the KNVB would like to see the Dutch internationals vaccinated before the start of the tournament. However, the initiative lies with the government, the spokesperson said.

“The KNVB certainly sees advantages in a vaccination for players and staff, prior to the European Championship,” said the spokesperson, who points out that the union depends on the number of vaccines available and the choices of the government. “It determines when certain groups can be vaccinated.” The European Championship starts on June 11; The the Dutch will play its first game on June 13 against Ukraine in the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam.

Earlier this week, the outgoing cabinet decided to give Dutch Olympic athletes priority in the vaccination process. At first, it would not be their turn until the summer. They are vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. The vaccinations of ‘Team NL’ take place at the location of the GGD Gelderland-Midden, at Papendal, the sports center that is used by Vitesse, among others, for training.

At the moment, the KNVB does not see a suitable time to vaccinate the internationals together. “For the soccer players of the Dutch national team, a large proportion of them live abroad, which now complicates collective vaccination. For that reason, it was decided to place the initiative with the clubs at this stage.” The Olympians visit in staggered ways, depending on their schedules, because some athletes are also abroad.