The Premier League are set to 'reward' clubs who have the highest levels of COVID-19 vaccinated players in their squad.
Senior officials are concerned by the slow uptake of the vaccine within players and the Premier League has briefed clubs on their proposals to increase the numbers.
According to The Daily Mail, a message was sent last week which read: "According to the data we have, only seven clubs' squads are more than 50 per cent fully vaccinated, so we have a way to go.
"We are considering if and how best we can 'reward' those squads/players who are most Covid-compliant and who have opted to be vaccinated.
"It is increasingly clear that full vaccination will be the key criteria for Government and health authorities, in terms of international travel and potential Covid certification at large scale events."
The note also explains that guidelines around COVID-19 measures could be relaxed on a club-by-club basis for those that have a high intake of the vaccine.
However, the report states that two clubs have as few as six players double-jabbed, which is a cause for concern as the Premier League aims to navigate a route back to normality.
Steve Bruce has admitted Newcastle United have a split camp, with some players opting against vaccinations.
“We’ve got a lot of players who haven’t had the jab,” said the Newcastle manager.
“It’s their prerogative. We’ve had two or three players really sick with Covid here and Karl Darlow spent the best part of a week in hospital with it, so we’ve seen the severity of it first-hand. But there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there.
“I would urge everybody to get jabbed, and that’s the advice of this country’s top medics, but not everyone’s going to have the same opinion. If you get a group of 20 people you are not all going to have the same opinion.”
