It gets worse: Unvaccinated Bayern Munich players won’t be allowed in the team hotel (Updated)

The hits just don’t stop coming for Bayern Munich at the moment. With Germany experiencing an uptick in coronavirus cases, the state of Bavaria has tightened regulations for hotels and restaurants. Specifically, only vaccinated or recovered individuals may be allowed to access such venues, without exceptions. This comes at a bad time for Bayern, who have an away game against Augsburg this Friday.

Bild explains the problem:

After the quarantine alarm, Bayern now have a serious 2G problem!

The unvaccinated Joshua Kimmich (26), Serge Gnabry (26) and Jamal Musiala (18) have been out of quarantine since yesterday, but like the previously released and also unvaccinated Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (32), will not play with the team in the “Maximilian’s” hotel on Friday.

Reason : The state of Bavaria has tightened the access regulations for restaurants and hotels. The 2G rule applies to guests (vaccinated or recovered)!

A hotel employee said to BILD: “There are no exceptions. Only those who have been vaccinated or have recovered are allowed into our house.”

Just to make a few things clear:

• Joshua Kimmich remains the only confirmed unvaccinated player at Bayern Munich. Bild name Gnabry, Musiala, Choupo-Moting as unvaccinated because they likely are, given that they were subjected to self-isolation measures that are usually only meant for unvaccinated players. There is supposedly a fifth unvaccinated player at Bayern, whose identity remains unknown.
• Augsburg is only like an hour or so from Munich, so the unvaccinated players could easily drive to the stadium themselves. However, with German states slowly increasing restrictions as case numbers climb, away games could start to become a whole new headache for Bayern.
• Niklas Sule and Josip Stanisic are both vaccinated but have the virus, they will likely miss the game on Friday due to being in quarantine.

Update

According to Sport, the unvaccinated players could still be allowed into the hotel due to an exception introduced by the Ministry of Health on Friday:

According to the Bavarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, the 2G rule does not apply to “mandatory and non-postponable non-tourist accommodation stays”

A game against Augsburg would likely fall into that category, allowing Kimmich and Musiala to join the team. Serge Gnabry, meanwhile, should count as a recovered player since he caught the virus earlier in the year (when he had to sit out against PSG). Thanks to Bavarian Jack and Arak for bringing these points to our attention.

Update #2

Given how the “recovered” rules work in Germany, Gnabry may not count as a recovered player since he caught the virus over 6 months ago. However, this may offer a plausible explanation as to why he’s not been vaccinated yet.

FYI, we happen to have a podcast on all things Bayern Munich, and in the latest episode we discussed the consequences for unvaccinated players on the squad, and how Bayern and Germany should handle them. Why not give it a try?

As always, thanks for listening!