NBL could introduce injury replacements for unvaccinated players

The NBL has kickstarted conversations about how they plan to deal with the Covid vaccination rollout.

The NBL is considering introducing replacement players for away games to cater for players who choose not to have the Covid vaccination. Picture:: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

The NBL is considering introducing replacement players at away games to cater for players who choose not to have the Covid vaccination.

The Australian domestic basketball season isn’t planned to tip-off until November 18, but league officials are already being proactive in the vaccination space.

NBL commissioner Jeremy Loeliger revealed officials had started conversations with the players’ association about options for unvaccinated players.

At this point, only a small number of players have expressed concern about having a Covid vaccination.

In a bid to elevate the issue, the NBL is weighing up allowing teams to use an injury replacement if an unvaccinated player isn’t allowed to travel interstate.

“That’s one idea that we’ve canvased with players, teams and the players’ association,” Loeliger said.

The NBL is considering alternative plans for teams with players who aren’t vaccinated. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“We are not a legislative government, so we are not going to mandate that someone puts something into their body if it is against a cultural or religious belief for example.

“Instead, we would try and look at alternatives for both the player and the team to lessen the extent of the issue, but one significant difference to NRL or AFL is that we are talking about a much smaller number of players.

“Allowing for injury replacements would be the first step in the right direction, but like everything in the Covid environment, it remains subject to review once we have a proper understanding of how many players would choose not to be vaccinated.

“But our understanding from discussions with the players’ association is that the vast majority of players are intending on getting vaccinated.”

Loeliger revealed the NBL also intended to provide vaccine education sessions for players.

These sessions most likely won’t be introduced until Australia reaches its 70 per cent vaccination threshold.

“We can’t undertake that educational component yet because we don’t know what the government sanctioned implications will be,” he said.

“We know once we get a 70 to 80 per cent threshold governments are likely to introduce policy or law that will treat people differently depending on whether they are vaccinated.

“All we can do is keep the players abreast of the fact that if they choose not to be vaccinated, it might mean that you can’t travel to this away game.

“We might have to revisit that if something changes and we were made aware that the extent of the problem was made bigger, but for the time being I think it can be addressed in that fashion.”

Illawarra Hawks co-owner and president Dorry Kordahi, with Hawks coach Brian Goorjian, is preparing for the unexpected. Picture: Supplied

Illawarra Hawks co-owner and president Dorry Kordahi is confident the NBL season will go ahead in mid-November when the majority of Australia is vaccinated, but he is also preparing for the unexpected with potential border closures.

“So, we’ve got to be mentally prepared that we might have to relocate throughout the season,” Kordahi said.

“We are not going to come into this (season) blindly. We are going to come in knowing that it (relocation) could be a possibility.

“We’ve seen it happen in the NRL and AFL when last-minute teams could be on a plane and moving to Queensland.

“Unfortunately, we might have to be living through this again for a short duration, but at least now there is a vaccine being rolled out.

“I’m hoping that the commonwealth can work with the state premiers and the health advice to all be on the same page, but this time last year there wasn’t a vaccine in sight, so we have something to work towards.

“We need to give fans certainty, so we’ve announced a season start date, and second year around we are definitely more knowledgeable about the pandemic and how we work through it.”

Originally published as NBL could introduce injury replacements for unvaccinated players