Former England manager Fabio Capello has said footballers refusing to get vaccinated should be hit with salary cuts due to the "damage" caused by their decisions.
A number of football matches in England have been postponed over the festive period, with Covid outbreaks impacting multiple Premier League sides as well as those further down the pyramid.
Serie A has imposed new rules, requiring footballers to be vaccinated in order to take part in matches, though the Premier League has not introduced any similar measures.
And Capello, who has not returned to European club management since his stint in charge of the England team, has hit out at the "selfishness" of those refusing the Covid-19 vaccine and called for financial penalties.
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Serie A has not indicated games will be postponed, with the competition due to resume this week and players in the competition now subject to tightened Covid rules.
Footballers will need to be vaccinated in order to take part in organised sport, having previously been exempt from wider rules, though Serie A reports that 98% of players are already vaccinated against the virus.
The figure is considerably higher than in the Premier League, with a December 20 statement indicating 77% of players were fully vaccinated and a further 7% having had their first jab.
“I can imagine the footballers’ sources,” Capello told La Gazzetta dello Sport, as translated by Football Italia.
"Not getting the vaccine is an act of selfishness and if police officers are obliged to do so, I don’t see why footballers should be excluded."
“Who doesn’t get the vaccine cause damage to society and should see his salary reduced,” he added, while suggesting the quicker recoveries associated with vaccinated individuals means Serie A will continue as normal.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted the vaccine status of players could impact whether his team makes new additions to the squad, after the Reds lost players to positive Covid tests in recent weeks.
"If a player is not vaccinated at all, he is a constant threat for all of us," said Klopp.
"He doesn’t want to be a threat, of course, it is not that he thinks, ‘Oh my God, I don’t care about the others,’ but he is and we have to find different scenarios."
While Capello's calls for wage cuts haven't knowingly been followed by any Premier League club, Bayern Munich took action in November after several of their unvaccinated players were forced to self-isolate.
Joshua Kimmich was among the Bayern players to speak of their initial reluctance over the vaccine, and the German international has only recently returned to training after contracting Covid towards the end of last year.
