If Novak Djokovic currently contests the decision of the Australian authorities not to admit him into the country by not respecting their very strict entry rules on covid, he is not the only one top level athlete in having shown skeptical regarding the covid vaccine.
This is an AFP selection of five athletes who have shown an attitude similar to that of Djokovic:
Aaron Rodgers
the legend of the Green Bay Packers, of American ‘football’, with whom he won the Super Bowl in 2011, was one of the main voices against vaccination in the sports world in the United States. Criticized after a positive test, the 38-year-old quarterback has since taken on the role of a victim of the “woke up mafia” and “cancel culture”.
Before that, he had claimed to be “immunized” after having sought an alternative treatment, as he claimed that two of the available vaccines contained an unspecified ingredient to which he was allergic and that a third had caused “many people” multiple ” undesirable effects.”
Joshua Kimmich
If Rodgers did not suffer from the coronavirus despite his refusal to be vaccinated, the German soccer player Joshua Kimmich was not so lucky when he contracted it at the end of November. the star of Bayern Munich, 26, suffered lung injuries that prevented him from playing until January.
He had drawn the ire of many by revealing in October that he opposed vaccination due to “fears and concerns.” “I thought I could protect myself from the virus if I followed all the rules and got tested regularly,” he said.
Stranger still, in 2020, he founded with his companion Leon Goretzka the “We kick Corona” initiative giving money to support vaccination campaigns and charitable projects. Although he ended up taking an appointment for a vaccination admitting “that it would have been preferable to have done it before”.
Bryson DeChambeau
The ordinarily statuesque 2020 US Open golf victor looked slimmer after his return from convalescence, having lost his place at the Tokyo Games last year due to COVID-19. The 28-year-old revealed that he had lost 4.5kg due to the virus, but was not too keen on the idea of getting vaccinated.
“The vaccine does not necessarily prevent pollution“, he told US media in August.
“I am quite youngI prefer to give it to people who need it. I am a young person in good health, who will continue to work on his health,” he said.
DeChambeau, whose parents are vaccinated, said he was considering following suit if he thought a new vaccine met his criteria.
Kyrie Irving
One of the stars of Brooklyn Nets He is back on the NBA courts after spending the first two months of the season out of competition for refusing to be vaccinated.
The 29-year-old point guard said his much-criticized decision was not due to his opposition to vaccination as a whole, but was simply a personal decision.
“I do what is best for me,” he said in October. “I know the consequences and if that means I’m judged and demonized for it, then so be it. It’s the role I play.”
At the moment, Irving, nba champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, he can only play away games since as long as he is not vaccinated, he cannot play at home due to the sanitary rules of the New York State.
Tennys Sandgren
Contrary to Djokovic, the 30-year-old American tennis player did not even try to get a medical waiver for the Open de Australia.
Sandgren, who twice reached the quarterfinals in Australia, far from the world number one’s nine singles titles, stated that did not meet the conditions required to obtain a waiver.
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“I clearly don’t have the same influence,” Sandgren noted, before what is happening to Djokovic after his arrival at Melbourne.
However, once the Serb was detained at the airport, he was critical of the position of the Australian authorities. “Two different medical commissions approved his repeal. And the politicians stop him. Australia does not deserve to host a Grand Slam“, he tweeted.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com