Jack Todd: Deported Djokovic got what he deserved

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It was all so outrageously unnecessary.

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The hearings, the drama, the lies, the arrests, the international outcry.

None of this needed to happen. All that was required was that at some point in the past year, Novak Djokovic put aside his medieval superstitions, act like an adult and get vaccinated.

Yes, Tennis Australia, in their embarrassing eagerness for Djokovic to play, vaccinated or not, played a role.

Yes, the Australian government and the Victorian government gave Djokovic the smallest of loopholes, which he decided to exploit.

Yes, Australian border security was as tough as US ICE agents in their handling of Djokovic and Czech doubles player Renata Voracova, who was detained, stripped naked and deported after being admitted to Australia, despite the fact that he hadn’t done anything wrong. .

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But it still came down to Djokovic, an athlete who thought he was bigger than the law, bigger than Australia, so big that his law allowed him to bend entire nations to his will.

In doing so, he became an international hero to the completely confused anti-vaccine movement, all the more reason for them to put selfishness above safety, to keep making it so hard to end this in the face of all reason, all the statistics, all the responsible scientific opinion.

Collateral damage spread in all directions, contaminating the Australian Open, the ATP, the Australian government, the game of tennis, the nation of Serbia and, most of all, Djokovic himself. If ever there was a chance that Djokovic would be as revered as Rafa Nadal or Roger Federer, that chance is gone forever.

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Now Djokovic could win 30 majors and it wouldn’t matter.

Even Canadian Vasek Pospisil, that humble Canadian guy we used to like, managed to sink his own reputation with his outspoken defense of Djokovic.

It will be interesting to see if any of Djokovic’s sponsors jump ship in the face of a tsunami of bad publicity. Ultimately, sponsors have more power than anyone else over the cheaters and brats of the sports world. It was Nike that finally pulled the plug on Lance Armstrong and forced him to admit that he had been a cheat all along.

Adidas was Djokovic’s shoe sponsor until 2017. In 2018, he signed with Asics for $4 million a year, then quit last year for an undisclosed amount. He has paid about $7.5 million a year for Head rackets, $9.4 million a year for Lacoste, more from Hublot, Peugeot, Ultimate Kronos Group and Raiffesein Bank. TO History 2021 at Sports Mint estimated his annual revenue from endorsements alone at $25.9 million from 12 brands in eight different industries.

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Sponsorships depend on public reaction and you wonder how tennis fans will react. They are not NASCAR fans. Tennis people tend to be educated and well off, which is part of the reason Djokovic is so rich. But educated people also tend to get vaccinated and understand what is at stake here.

The simplest solution, given Djokovic’s greed, may be for Pfizer to sign him to another sponsorship and see him change tune in a heartbeat.

Whatever it is, there clearly needs to be some clarity on the rules for admitting international sports stars to other countries in the midst of a pandemic. It has to be simple: obey the rules of the country you want to visit or stay at home.

“All of this could have been avoided, as we all have done, by getting vaccinated, doing everything we had to do to come here to Australia,” said two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza. “Everyone knew the rules very clearly. You just have to follow them and voila. I do not think that it is that hard”.

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Tennis coach and commentator Darren Cahill understood this better than anyone. “The fault is everywhere here,” Cahill said. “It has been a disaster. Novak, Tennis Australia, the Government of Victoria, the Federal Government. It should have been a tough rule to get into this country considering what people have been through. Get vaccinated and come play… or else, maybe we’ll see each other on 23”.

You would hope that other nations and other federations get the message. French Sports Minister Roxane Maracineanu has already said French rules would allow Djokovic to play at the French Open from May, even if he is not vaccinated, as long as he obeys International Tennis Federation protocols.

That may change, with French President Emmanuel Macron taking a hard line on the unvaccinated and France racking up more than 300,000 cases a day since Omicron was established. Beyond Roland Garros, the UK and the US have suffered greatly from the COVID-19 virus. A crackdown could jeopardize Djokovic’s participation at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

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Again, there is a simple solution: a couple of painless needle sticks. A degree of immunity. An example to the world.

Heroes: Rafael Nadal, Garbiñe Muguruza, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Leylah Fernandez, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Josh Allen, Shuai Peng, &&&& last but not least, Andy Murray.

zeros: Novak Djokovic, Vasek Pospisil, Nick Kyrgios, Aaron Rodgers, Kyrie Irving, Bill Belichick, Claude Brochu, David Samson &&&& last but not least, Jeffrey Loria. Now and always.

@jacktodd46

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