Heidel says Mainz won't sign unvaccinated players
Ahead of FSV Mainz 05's trip to Mallorca for winter training camp, club boss Christian Heidel spoke to a local Spanish newspaper about the state of his club.
In addition to speaking on the club's remarkable turnaround last year and the frequent visits of German national team trainer Hans Dieter Flick to the club's ground, Heidel revealed himself to be a proponent of vaccine mandates.
Heidel's club will not be interested in signing any unvaccinated players this January. This might also prove the case for all Bundesliga clubs.
Mallorca's main daily newspaper published an interview with FSV Mainz 05 chief sporting executive Christian Heidel on Friday. As the Spanish Island (and German tourist Mecca) prepared to welcome the German Bundesliga club for their winter training camp, the local paper wished first to ask about Mainz's remarkable turnaround to avoid relegation last year.
In addition to speaking on the club's remarkable turnaround last year and the frequent visits of German national team trainer Hans Dieter Flick to the club's ground, Heidel revealed himself to be a proponent of vaccine mandates.
Heidel's club will not be interested in signing any unvaccinated players this January. This might also prove the case for all Bundesliga clubs.
"I'm not the messiah," Heidel emphasized to begin with, "We tightened the right screws, made the right choices, and also got a little lucky. It was an extraordinary story for European football and is unlikely to happen again."
Heidel gave much of the credit to Bo Svensson--the head coach he installed last January--and staff for orchestrating the turnaround. The 58-year-old portrayed himself as a humble servant of his home-town, where he currently works without a fixed contract.
Citing lower expectations for a mid-market club, Heidel noted that it was easier to "get people excited about the club." One figure who is excitedly spending a great deal of time at the club is German national team trainer Hansi Flick.
The Nationalmannschaft gaffer rarely misses a chance to catch a Mainz home fixture. Flick is always to be found in the Pfälzer stands as he scouts Germany U21 captain Jonathan Burkardt.
"Hansi frequently comes to our stadium," Heidel noted, "He simply likes it here with us and doesn't have a long trip to visit. An call-up [for Burkardt] should come soon."
When Niklas Süle's COVID infection ravaged the German national team ranks during the last international break, Germany's Kicker magazine phoned up both Heidel and Flick to get their take on possible occupational vaccine mandates for footballers.
Back then, Heidel noted that there was one member of the club's playing team or staff (not revealed for privacy reasons) who had not yet gotten inoculated against the novel coronavirus. The administrator noted that this last individual had opted to take the shot, bringing players and staff up to a 100 percent vaccination rate.
That's not all he said.
"I'm an advocate of mandatory vaccination," Heidel revealed, "The only reason we couldn't do it at Mainz was because there was no legal basis for mandatory vaccination."
FC Bayern München trainer Julian Nagelsmann fell back on a similar line at his Friday presser. Germany does not have a national vaccine mandate. Neighboring Austria does.
The Bundesrepublik's new governing coalition has punted on the issue, announcing that "a commission will study the issue". Transparently enough, this commission likely constitutes a time stall that will issue a report early next spring, after a slight uptick in vaccinations and more infections over the winter will deliver reasonable herd immunity and render the whole issue moot.
Heidel effectively divulged another way that football clubs can exercise soft power in order to compel more footballers to get vaccinated. Namely, by not signing unvaccinated ones in the coming January transfer window. This "screener question" can easily become part of a football player's normal medical.
"We as a club have decided not to sign any vaccinated players in the future," Heidel said, "We're also following through with that, but do note that there are hardly any unvaccinated players left in Germany."