Rider fans calling for vaccination mandate at Mosaic Stadium

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are one of only two remaining teams in the Canadian Football League that do not yet require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations to attend their home games.

The other team is the Edmonton Elks.

Some fans of the team think that this measure needs to be put into place, and will not be comfortable attending games until then.

“This is my first year without season tickets in 15 years, for me it’s just too many people in one spot right now, where you don’t know who’s next to you,” Rider Fan Abigail Casey said.

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters detailed some of the internal discussions that are in the works regarding proof of vaccinations at Mosaic Stadium and elsewhere in Regina.

“Right now we have the Regina Exhibition Association, the city, the province and the Riders working on a QR code or barcode, logistics to validate whether people are vaccinated or not,” she said.

In a statement from the team, the Riders said, “The club is undergoing discussions about our COVID policies with our stadium operator and other stakeholders as well as with our provincial health officials.”

For one Rider supporter, who is situated in Kelowna, the possibility of contracting the coronavirus at a Rider game is a matter of life and death.

“I’m a little bit compromised when it comes to breathing, so my doctor told me that if I got COVID that I might die from it,” Rider Fan Cliff Hanselmann said.

Casey is one hundred per cent in favour of the Riders moving to a vaccine mandate for fans.

“And if you haven’t been vaccinated it’s then your responsibility now to take some social responsibility

and choose not to attend some of those events because you’re risking it for other people that are vaccinated,” she said.

Hanselmann thinks that some of the younger generation needs to think about affecting others when deciding whether or not to take precautions.

“I get the attitude of I’m 20 years old and if I catch it big deal, but that doesn’t really fly when the 20 year old passes it onto their grandpa or to someone like me. I’ve got a ten year old kid to worry about, he wants me here so I’d like to be here for a few more years with him,” he said.