Berlin, Nov 21 (IANS): Bayern Munich have announced that players who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 will be subject to wage cuts.
Media reports suggest that the record German champions have announced the cuts for unvaccinated players such as Joshua Kimmich, as professional football in Germany is suffering from a rising number of positive infection cases and quarantine orders.
Reports speak of the club threatening to exclude affected players from regular training as a next step.
The news comes after Werder Bremen head coach Markus Anfang resigned after he was accused of having forged his vaccination papers, with investigations continuing.
Faked documents can be penalized with up to five years in prison.
Due to health regulations and federal state law, employees can't count on receiving their regular salary payments if they are in quarantine.
This regulation is in effect in the state of Bavaria, which affects Kimmich and Bayern teammates Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Michael Cuisance.
As an unvaccinated person, German international Kimmich missed several games after having to quarantine following close contact with a positive case.
Health regulations force unvaccinated contacts into isolation for at least seven days. Kimmich was put into quarantine when fully vaccinated Niklas Sule tested positive while with the national team.
Five players had to leave the Germany camp before the kick-off of a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Following which a person in Kimmich's close circle of contacts also tested positive, reports Xinhua.
The midfielder missed Bayern's Bundesliga encounter against Augsburg and will also not play in next week's Champions League tie against Dynamo Kyiv.
Reports speak of the Bayern players being caught by surprise, as they hadn't expected such drastic steps to be made.
Kimmich's refusal to receive the jab is causing ongoing annoyance among teammates and head coach Julian Nagelsmann.
The Bayern coach renewed his appeal to get vaccinated and admitted to being annoyed by the disturbance.
Statistics show Bayern's average point haul without Kimmich has dropped to 1.9 from 2.4. While Bayern have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, the club fears the loss of players in the advanced stages of the competition.
This weekend, Bayern lost their second Bundesliga match of the season. Many at the club accuse Kimmich and others of having triggered disturbing in-house troubles. Reports speak of a majority of team members standing in favor of the clubs' actions.
Several federal states are expected to demand that games are played behind closed doors, as infection rates in Germany are rising. RB Leipzig has to play its Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain without fans, while the state of Bavaria has reduced the permitted stadium capacity to 25 percent.