Riders to make COVID vaccinations a requirement for fans at Mosaic Stadium

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are making COVID-19 vaccinations a requirement to attend CFL games at Mosaic Stadium.

Fans will have to be fully vaccinated against the virus or provide a negative COVID-19 test result to attend their home games. The start date is set for Sept. 17, when the Toronto Argonauts are to visit the Roughriders.

The decision comes as active cases of COVID-19 in the province once again have surpassed 2,000.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will require fans to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or provide a negative COVID-19 test result to attend home games at Mosaic Stadium with a targeted start date of September 17th.

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— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) August 30, 2021

“In consultations with local medical health officers this past week, they voiced their support to begin requiring proof of vaccination at Roughrider games,” Craig Reynolds, the Roughriders’ president and CEO, said in a media release.

“After speaking with our stakeholders, including the City of Regina — our stadium owner, REAL — our stadium operator, and the CFL, we decided that this is the right decision for our Club and for our fans.”

According to the Roughriders, fans under the age of 12 are exempt from the requirement. People in that age group aren’t eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

A negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of the start of the game will also be accepted for partially vaccinated adults or those who may be unable to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons.

“You always want to do the right thing … When the medical health officers said, ‘We strongly recommend that you move forward,’ that was enough for us,” Reynolds said later during a media conference.

Among the questions Reynolds was asked was why the Riders were among the last two teams to implement a vaccine policy. The Edmonton Elks also announced the move Monday.

“There are a lot of stakeholders involved … so it does take some time to work through that … So we were able to get through those discussions last week and make the announcement today,” Reynolds said.

The Roughriders said they’ll be working on how to accept proof of vaccination over the next several weeks.

The new rules don’t begin in time for Sunday’s Labour Day Classic between the Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Reynolds said that’s just because it’s going to take a while to work out all the details of how they implement the vaccine rules.

“What’s the most effective way to prove vaccination status and then, obviously, we’re going to have to look at how do we do that in the most effective way on game day so that we don’t create massive backlogs and get our fans into our stadium, cheering on our football team in a timely manner,” he said.

“We’re certainly going to be asking for our fans’ patience as we move through this … It will, obviously, add another layer.”

As for specifics, he hasn’t yet revealed many, but there are some early ideas on how to deal with the task of getting fans inside the stadium.

“It’s going to require, perhaps, some changes in fan behaviour, where we’re going to ask our fans to come earlier …,” he said. “Potentially, we’re looking at things like opening the gates earlier.”

Saskatchewan already has played three home games during the abbreviated 2021 season. After Sunday’s contest, the Roughriders will have three home games left in the regular season: Sept. 17 against Toronto, Oct. 9 against the Calgary Stampeders and Nov. 5 versus the Elks.

The Elks announced a similar policy Monday, with that requirement to take effect Oct. 15.

The Elks have been dealing with an outbreak on their roster, with 13 players testing positive. Edmonton’s game against Toronto last Thursday was cancelled due to the positive tests.

All of the CFL’s teams now have a vaccination policy in place.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Dom Lucyk