Chelsea and Liverpool’s Champions League last-16 away ties could be moved to neutral venues over European vaccine laws
LIVERPOOL and Chelsea’s last-16 away games in the Champions League could be moved to neutral grounds.
The Reds and the Blues are scheduled to face Inter Milan and Lille respectively after successfully making it out of the group stage.
According to the Mail, Uefa are reluctant to endorse the compulsory vaccination rules that are expected to be introduced by the French and Italian governments.
Thus, the two Premier League clubs may have to travel elsewhere for their away trips.
According to new regulations, which will come into force later this month, all professional and amateur athletes in France and Italy must have a Covid passport to enter a venue.
That could have an impact on player availability given the lower vaccination rates among some Prem clubs and could cause extra pressure amid mounting coronavirus cases and current injuries.
Uefa don’t appear keen to rewrite their rules to make vaccination compulsory at this stage.
As it stands, the current rules dictate that teams with 13 players, including a goalkeeper, will be expected to fulfil fixtures.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
Liverpool dominated in what was dubbed the ‘group of death’ as they topped Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan.
The Merseysiders made history as they became the first ever English team to win all of their six games in the Champions League group stage.
Chelsea, on the other hand finished second below Juventus following a dramatic 3-3 draw at Zenit St Petersburg.
The Blues eliminated Zenit as well as Malmo and will be looking to retain their European crown.
Read our Football news live blog for the very latest rumours, gossip and done deals