Baumgart defends himself against vaccination pressure on footballers
1. FC Cologne
Cologne (dpa) – With a flaming appeal, Cologne’s head coach Steffen Baumgart has opposed vaccination requirements for professional footballers.
“The topic with the footballers is always everyone’s favorite topic, which ultimately interests more than politics itself. I believe that we have completely different construction sites,” said the coach of the Bundesliga club. “We have a vaccination quota of 90 percent in the Bundesliga, if we had that in society, then we would be through. It’s not up to the footballers there, Baumgart.” And if we take individual players who have problems with them, that is still a small part. “
Baumgart: “We have enough construction sites”
The 49-year-old, who, according to his own words, is already receiving the booster vaccination, cannot understand the demands made on the athlete. “We are just as much a member of this society as everyone else, we have no special status, neither positive nor negative,” said Baumgart. And in the sports clubs, for the most part, everyone is present at the vaccination. “And we have to persuade the others, but not, we make demands to compensate.”
“In the summer we talked about the fact that autumn could be a difficult situation. Now we’re talking about the fact that politicians reacted too late what the footballers could do, “said the Cologne coach.” We have been living with the disease for two years now, so I ask myself the question, where are the intensive care beds, where are the nurses? We have enough construction sites where we can start, but it’s not the footballers, “emphasizes Baumgart.