The prelude to the first tennis Grand Slam is lived with tension and suspense. ATP number one Novak Djokovic has had to face a reality check with the Australian government. The exemption with which he protected his access to that country to play the Australian Open was rejected, a competition that means an opportunity to get all 21 Grand Slam titles.
The follow-up of this story leaves a further precedent of how Djokovic He hasn’t slowed down his racket since the pandemic started. Do you remember what happened in June 2020?
Before the whole world had access to coronavirus vaccination, Novak It organized its own tournament: the Adria Tour, which was hosted by Belgrade (Serbia) and Zadar (Croatia). That tournament was criticized for having access to the public, without demands for masks, and was attended by the Serbian Prime Minister and other authorities. After a meeting between tennis players, Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, Croatian Borna Coric and Serbian player Viktor Troicki tested positive for coronavirus.
In January 2022, a new chapter of controversy unfolds in Australia, where Nole underwent a legal challenge to the last-minute rejection of his visa, after spending eight hours in detention at the Melbourne airport defending his case before border officials.
Novak he was questioned by the Australian authorities, who did not find sufficient evidence to allow him entry. In that case, the Serbian would have to have verified that he suffers from anaphylaxis to all the Covid-19 vaccines or that he suffered a serious adverse reaction to the first dose. But none of that happened.
“The Australian Border Force (ABF) can confirm that Mr. Djokovic did not provide adequate evidence to meet the entry requirements for Australia, and his visa has subsequently been canceled. Non-citizens who do not have a valid visa upon entry or who have canceled their visa will be detained and expelled from Australia. “
The Age, a Serbian media outlet, reported that the father of Djokovic She said her son was “staying in a room and no one can enter. There are two policemen in front ”and added that Djokovic was not allowed to use his mobile phone. A short time later, Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic wrote in an Instagram post: “This is not the most common trip to Australia.” Ivanisevic appeared near the physiotherapist Ulises Badio.
The reactions
Djokovic received strong public support from Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić:
“I just got off the phone with Novak Djokovic. I told our Novak that all of Serbia is with him and that our authorities are taking all measures to stop the harassment of the best tennis player in the world in the shortest possible time. In accordance with all the norms of international public law, Serbia will fight for Novak Djokovic, for justice and truth. “
While Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated: “Rules are rules, no one is above them. Our strict border regulations have been instrumental in Australia having one of the world’s best Covid-related mortality rates in the world. “.
Djokovic was reportedly given until Thursday to leave Australia.
Jaala Pulford, Victoria’s Acting Sports Minister, stated: “We will not provide Novak Djokovic with individual visa application assistance to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam (…) We have always been clear on two Points: Visa approvals are a matter for the Federal Government and medical exemptions are a matter for doctors. “
Tennis Australia (TA) confirmed that most of the 26 exemption requests that were submitted came from players or officials who contracted Covid-19 in the last six months. Djokovic He was previously infected with Covid-19 in June 2020 during the Adria Tour, but did not publicly disclose that he had a second case in 2021. TA did not disclose how many applications, in addition to Djokovic’s, had been approved by a pair of independent panels.
Personal information, including name, country of origin and date of birth, was excluded when panels of experts in general medicine, immunology and infectious diseases reviewed the details of the presentation. The problem arose when it became known that the type of visa that Djokovic applied for did not authorize medical exemptions because he was not vaccinated.
Physician Stephen Parnis, a former vice president of the Australian Medical Association, said the decision sends a negative message to people fighting the spread of Covid-19.
“I don’t care how good a tennis player he is. If he refuses to be vaccinated, he should not be allowed in,” Parnis said on Twitter.
Djokovic voiced opposition to the coronavirus vaccine in April 2020, when it was raised that it might be mandatory to resume tournaments.
“Personally I am not provaccine”, declared then Djokovic. “I don’t want someone to force me to be vaccinated in order to travel.”
Members of the local Serbian community waited outside a hotel where Djokovic is reported to be staying in Melbourne on January 6, 2022.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx