Chris Smalling ‘agrees to vaccine’ after Roma star and wife Sam receive abuse

Roma defender Chris Smalling is reported to have agreed to receive his Covid vaccination after new legislation was introduced by the Italian government for footballers

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Roma defender Chris Smalling has reportedly agreed to take his first Covid-19 vaccine after the Italian government introduced new rules for sports stars.

Italy has introduced a ‘Green Pass’ from 10 January that will require anyone playing outdoor sports within the country to have received their vaccination.

The former England international defender had, according to suggestions from the Italian press, been the remaining Roma player waiting to receive their first jab.

Speculation over the former Manchester United defender’s status had intensified due to his wife Sam sharing multiple anti-vaccine messages on her Instagram account and questioning whether people should avail of the vaccine.

As highlighted by La Repubblica, via Roma News, this has led to both Smalling and his wife receiving insults from Roma fans – who do not want their first-team to be impacted by the new government legislation.

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A report from Italian media outlet Il Messaggero claims that Roma boss Jose Mourinho, alongside the club’s general manager Tiago Pinto, have been working to persuade the one remaining Roma player to receive their vaccination.

The report does not identify the player but does claim that they are a fundamental player in the Giallorossi’s first-team.

A report from Football Italia claims that Smalling is the player who has yet to receive his first jab, but has now agreed to do so.

Smalling, 32, has been involved in 14 matches for Mourinho’s side this campaign – starting 10 of those.

While medical data within Italy remains private, it has been revealed that 98 percent of players in Serie A have been double vaccinated with just 10 players yet to receive their first dose of the vaccine.

The new legislation will forbid any player who has yet to receive their first dose of the vaccine from playing in Serie A, B or C from 10 January.

Mourinho had said of the issue: “These are private matters and players have the right to protect their privacy. A few players had Covid last week, they asked for privacy and we respected that.

“Rules are rules, the law is the law, and the moment the Italian Government makes a decision on a vaccine mandate, then it has to be respected.

“If a player could go without, we respected that, but if it’s the law then we want the players to respect the law so they can do their job and play football. I don’t think there will be any problems.”

Smalling’s wife Sam, a glamour model, has shared anti-vaccine content on her social media pages which has provoked no shortage of controversy.

She shared an audio from Dr Peter McCullough which alleges that vaccines cause damage to the human body and footage from physician Dr Robert Malone, which has been ‘partly false’ by Instagram.

Serie A has been on its winter break since 22 December but its 6 January return has been disrupted by multiple postponements due to Covid.

The highly-transmissible Omicron variant has taken grip in Italy and has seen four matches postponed, including Inter’s trip to Bologna and Atalanta’s home game against Torino.

Italy has recorded 138,276 Covid-related deaths and over 6.7million cases since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020.