Fourth player in Bundesliga diagnosed with testicular cancer this season

Hertha Berlin winger Jean-Paul Boetius is the fourth Bundesliga player to be diagnosed with testicular cancer this season, La Stampa reports.

Boetius is 28 years old, which is approximately the age many testicular cancer diagnoses are made. 

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, around 10 thousand testicular cancer diagnoses are made each year in the United States. Germany's population is around a quarter of that of the U.S. and so one would expect the country to register around 2,500 new cases each year. 

La Stampa does not mention if the four players had received COVID shots, but it appears highly likely given that almost 95 percent of Bundesliga players have been vaccinated.

According to authorities, the COVID shots do not harm fertility. However, treatment for testicular cancer is likely to render the patient sterile. 

A recent study on male fertility following COVID vaccination revealed that sperm counts dropped following COVID vaccination and then recovered in most people – but far from all. The unlucky ones saw their sperm counts and other key reproductive markers continue to decline months after vaccination.