The off-key words of Srdjan Djokovic, father of the world’s number one tennis player, do not exactly help to calm the tense situation that goes beyond the sport itself, between Serbia and Australia, after the customs authorities of the oceanic country did not authorize the entrance of the tennis player to Melbourne for not having been vaccinated against the covid.
This Friday was Christmas Day for Orthodox Christians, the religion of the Serbian tennis player, who lived the day in the solitude of his room at the Park Hotel in Melbourne, an establishment that is now dedicated to accommodating people without proper papers and that they are waiting (or not) to be expelled from Australia. For this reason, Srdjan Djokovic He wanted to send a message with religious overtones about the situation his son is experiencing after he previously considered him a “prisoner” and called people to go out into the streets to defend the honor of Serbia.
Serbian criticism of Nadal
“Jesus He also had problems, they did everything to him, but he is still alive among us. So also ‘Nole’ they try to crucify. He can’t do anything! He is the heart of Serbia and the free world! “. This is how the player’s father spoke to the protesters who clamored for the tennis player’s freedom before the Parliament of Belgrade.” Why do they do this to us and do it to ‘Nole ‘? “he screeched Srdjan Djokovic, and people responded: “because they hate us.”
Curiously no one has questioned, just as he did Rafael NadalWhy has he not been vaccinated, at the same time that the Mallorcan tennis player is being harassed in Serbia for not having supported the world number one tennis player and having defended the vaccination campaigns.
The spirits in Serbia are very excited. The retention of Djokovic in Melbourne has been taken as a matter of state in a country that does not reach 50% of the vaccinated population.
Karen Andrews, Australian Minister: “Mr Djokovic is not a captive in Australia, he is free to go any time he wishes” pic.twitter.com/CJdj4WG7Ox
– The HuffPost (@ElHuffPost) January 7, 2022
Meanwhile, at least until Monday, Djokovic he will be held at the Melbourne hotel. The team of lawyers that advises him in Australia maintains the faith that the tennis player can finally play the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, which begins on the 17th and where he aspires to a tenth victory.
The strategy is mainly based, according to local media, on achieving a delay of the ruling, based on resources and meanwhile getting that Djokovic has an official permit to be able to stay temporarily in Australian territory. Otherwise, the same Monday he should leave the country.
Retained player
The federal government, however, through the Minister of the Interior, Karen Andrews, confirmed this Friday that Djokovic He was not in prison and that he was completely free to leave Australia whenever he wanted. Of course, for the moment, he is prohibited from moving around Melbourne.
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“Many thanks to people around the world for the constant support. I can feel it and it is greatly appreciated,” she wrote. Djokovic on social media, after congratulating Orthodox Christmas.
The number one is not the only tennis player retained in Australia. This Friday, also, the veteran Czech player Renata Voracova, 38, was taken to the Park Hotel in Melbourne, who could have arrived in Australia without the full vaccination schedule.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com