Not just Djokovic: athletes who risk their careers by not getting vaccinated

Novak Djokovic (Tennis)
No Australia and no Roland Garros?
Kyrie Irving (Basketball)
Back on the field (unvaccinated)
Joshua Kimmich (Football)
Vaccinated and back
Aaron Rodgers (American Football)
Loss of sponsors
Andrew Wiggins (Basketball)
350,000 per game lost
Kelly Slater (Surfing)
'Brainwashing'
Bradley Beal (Basketball)
He missed the games and ended up getting vaccinated
Wout Weghorst (Football)
Straight to the point
Tennys Sandgren (Tennis)
He joked about the Djokovic case
Renan Lodi (Football)
Farewell to the Brazil national team
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Tennis)
N'Golo Kanté (Football)
The boss is not forcing him to
Frédéric Sinistra (Kickboxing)
The toughest case
Novak Djokovic (Tennis)

After almost two years of the pandemic, unvaccinated sportsmen and women are becoming more and more scarce. Yet, there are some cases so famous that they are making headlines all over the world. The most relevant case is undoubtedly the world number one in the ATP ranking. The Serbian tennis player was expelled from Australia and unable to play the first Grand Slam of the year.

No Australia and no Roland Garros?

The problem for Djokovic is that this is not the only competition that he can be excluded from. The Roland Garros French Open, which starts in May in Paris, has already warned that if he does not get vaccinated, he will not be able to participate.

Kyrie Irving (Basketball)

With more than 96% of NBA players vaccinated, the Brooklyn Nets point guard - and one of the stars of the competition - maintains his insistence on not getting vaccinated. This decision cost him several months away from the team.

Back on the field (unvaccinated)

Irving returned to play on 6 January, in the face of the team's numerous absentees. However, he can only play away games due to current New York legislation.

Joshua Kimmich (Football)

For several months, the talented Bayern Munich player chose not to be vaccinated. After contracting Covid-19 in November 2021, the Bavarian club opted to remove him from the team and take away the corresponding part of his salary.

Vaccinated and back

The virus left some after-effects on the midfielder's lungs but it hasn't affected his performance. Either way, before returning to the field at the end of the year, he opted to get vaccinated.

Aaron Rodgers (American Football)

The Green Bay Packers star claims to be allergic to an element of the vaccines, so he opted for an alternative immunity treatment, which, unfortunately, the NFL did not approve and ruled him unvaccinated.

Loss of sponsors

After becoming infected in November 2021, the Packers fined the quarterback $300,000 and he has lost his Prevea Health sponsorship.

Andrew Wiggins (Basketball)

The Golden State Warriors player was against vaccinations, but the San Francisco Chronicle revealed his name as one of the few unvaccinated players in the NBA days before the start of the season.

350,000 per game lost

The Warriors made it clear that if he didn't get vaccinated, he wouldn't play, which would mean withdrawing $350,000 per game he didn't play. He ended up getting vaccinated, but out of obligation, as he said on social media. "The only options were to get vaccinated or not play in the NBA."

Kelly Slater (Surfing)

The greatest surfer of all time, 11 times world champion, has never hidden his anti-vaccine stance. In fact, when the Djokovic case broke out, he was one of the first to defend him on social media.

'Brainwashing'

"And for people saying listen to the doctors, I’m positive I know more about being healthy than 99 per cent of doctors (laugh emoji) but I wouldn’t trust me," he said on Instagram.

Bradley Beal (Basketball)

The Washington Wizards star has received less media attention, perhaps because Irving has hogged the spotlight. Still, he has been one of the most relevant unvaccinated names in the NBA.

He missed the games and ended up getting vaccinated

The shooting guard already missed the Olympics because of a positive test for Covid-19, which opened the door to a future vaccine. This came two days before the end of 2021.

Wout Weghorst (Football)

Wolfsburg's Dutch striker openly refuses to be vaccinated. As the Bundesliga does not oblige its players, he can play in Germany without any problems.

Straight to the point

"Imagine a vaccine so safe that they have to force you to take it, for a disease so lethal that they have to test you to know you have it," he told German broadcaster ZDF.

Tennys Sandgren (Tennis)

The American tennis player also assumed, some time ago, that he would not be taking part in Australia, due to his refusal to be vaccinated.

He joked about the Djokovic case

Regarding Djokovic's stance, Sandgren took it ironically, with a tweet that immediately went viral. "I think Novak should make his vaccination record public. And his medical history. And his account number. And what he had for breakfast last week."

Renan Lodi (Football)

The Brazil international, who plays for Atletico Madrid, has been left out of Tite's squad for the 'Canarinho' because he did not want to be vaccinated. "He has lost the option to compete for not being vaccinated," said the coach.

Farewell to the Brazil national team

According to Tite, "vaccination is a social responsibility" and he has taken this to heart in the important qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Tennis)

The French tennis player, one of the best doubles specialists on the circuit, has also opted not to be vaccinated. Unlike Djokovic, however, he automatically assumed that participating in the Australian Open was not an option for him.

"I am not anti-vaccine but..."

"I am not anti-vaccine, but I have not taken the step to get vaccinated and I would like my decision to be respected," he told France TV Info.

N'Golo Kanté (Football)

The all-rounder with the eternal smile, who played a key role in Chelsea's Champions League win, is one of the 25% of Premier League players who have not been vaccinated, according to data provided by the English Football League.

The boss is not forcing him to

The midfielder has missed important games this season because he has not been vaccinated. Despite this, his coach, Thomas Tuchel, says he will not force his players to be vaccinated if they don't want to.

Frédéric Sinistra (Kickboxing)

A three-time world kickboxing champion, Frédéric was a convinced anti-vaccine activist who was admitted to hospital on 26 November 2021 with respiratory problems. Despite this, he decided to voluntarily discharge himself a month later.

The toughest case

Known as 'The Undertaker', he died at home two days later. He was 41 years old and the reason he left the hospital was that "the little virus is not going to stop me." In the end, it did.

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