With COVID-19 still a reality in professional sports, the NBA informed teams on Tuesday that it plans to adhere to a Canadian policy regarding unvaccinated individuals.
Last month, Canada’s minister of public safety Marco Mendicino announced that unvaccinated professional athletes would no longer be able to enter the country, starting on Jan. 15. On Tuesday, a
If a player can’t show proof of full vaccination and misses a game in Toronto, he would be subject to reduction of compensation and may be subject to fine, suspension or other action, NBA informs teams today. https://t.co/0W8rIjSTGV
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 7, 2021
“>report from insider Shams Charania confirmed that the NBA would follow that policy.
Charania reported that the league informed teams on Tuesday that any player who is not full vaccinated would be unable to enter the country to play games against the Toronto Raptors starting in mid-January. If players were unable to show proof of vaccination, they would be subject to fines or possibly stiffer penalties, per the report.
“If a player can’t show proof of full vaccination and misses a game in Toronto, he would be subject to reduction of compensation and may be subject to fine, suspension or other action, NBA informs teams today,” Charania wrote.
Although Charania caught some flack for reporting what the Canadian government had announced back on Nov. 19, reality started to set in for most fans and media members around the NBA world. Many realized that the country’s policy would have a significant effect on teams with unvaccinated players that needed to travel to Toronto to play the Raptors.
Given Canada’s announcement back in November, this policy should also have an effect later this year on MLB. For now, the focus will remain on the NBA and the NHL, both of which will be affected starting Jan. 15.