Saskatchewan Roughriders will not get paid if games get cancelled due to COVID-19

Based on the current vaccination rate among Saskatchewan Roughriders, players will not get paid if one of their games gets cancelled due to COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the CFL announced its new policy in order to incentivize players to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

If 85 per cent of a team has at least one dose of the vaccine, the players will still get their salary for a game cancelled because of COVID-19.

If a teamlike the Saskatchewan Roughridersfalls below the 85 per cent threshold, the entire team will not receive its salary.

As of last Friday's league-wide roster cutdown, 79 per cent of CFL players are fully or partially vaccinated, said the CFL in a press release.

Just three CFL teams have more than 85 per cent of their players vaccinated, but the league did not disclose which ones. The other six teams have vaccination rates ranging from 67 per cent to 81 per cent.

"I would be willing to tell you we're close [to 85 per cent]. We're not one of those three yet, but we're going to be there soon," Saskatchewan Roughriders Coach Craig Dickenson said during a press briefing Tuesday.

He said the club is encouraging players to get vaccinated.

"Anytime you have the haves and the have-nots, whether it be money, vaccination, whatever, you risk dividing the room," Dickenson said. "So we've tried to be very open-minded and very understanding of those that may be for some reason or another don't want to get vaccinated, but we want to encourage them."

Dickenson said the main reason they want to encourage vaccine uptake is so players can remain healthy and safe.

During the season, if an outbreak occurs on a team, that club will forfeit the game and be assigned a loss while the opposing team will be credited with a win by a 1-0 score.

Should both teams be affected by an outbreak, both clubs will be assigned a loss.

The CFL kicks off its 2021 season on Thursday with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a rematch of the 107th Grey Cup.

On Friday, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will host the BC Lions during their sold-out home opener.