Erik Hurtado Traded From CF Montreal to Crew After Refusing to Get COVID-19 Vaccine

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CF Montreal forward Erik Hurtado was traded to the Columbus Crew for $200,000 in general allocation money on Thursday after he chose not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The 30-year-old from Virginia signed a one-year deal with Montreal last February that included a second-year option. He now heads to his fourth MLS club after previous stints with Sporting Kansas City and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 

Said CF Montreal sporting director Olivier Renard:

“There was some interest in Erik during the past few weeks and we listened to the offers, even though we were satisfied with Erik’s work. Because he’s not vaccinated against Covid-19, his situation was problematic and we started considering a trade when we got the confirmation that the team could return to Montreal. Before proceeding, Erik also confirmed that he was not comfortable taking the vaccine, so we concluded this deal, which we felt was very satisfactory. We would like to thank Erik for his professionalism and wish him good luck in his career.”

In seven games for Montreal, the forward started twice and recorded one assist.