Cyprus Sports Organisation officials and Cypriot athletes, some of whom seek to be qualified for the Olympic and Paralympic Games have said that vaccination is the only way for athletes to be able to return to sports events and to normality.

The sports officials and athletes were speaking at the Vaccination Centre in Latsia, Nicosia, on Tuesday, where the athletes were vaccinated.

The impact of the pandemic on sports has been great, they said, urging people to go ahead with their vaccination so that “we can return to our routine.”

Cyprus Sports Organisation President Andreas Michaelides said the athletes who were vaccinated today sent a message to everyone that “vaccination is necessary in order to move forward with our lives,” adding that vaccination would be needed for any athletes who manage to qualify for the Olympics.

On her part, the Sports Organisation’s General Manager Mary Charalambous Papamiltiades said that the Olympic team, and the athletes seeking to be qualified for the Olympics and the Paralympics are now vaccinated.

Vaccination, she pointed out, is the only way to return to sports events, “which is why it is very important to go ahead with it so that we can claim our lives back and our sports lives.”

In statements, young athletes also repeated the necessity of the vaccination in order for them to be able to train and travel abroad for sporting events.