The director of Australian Open, Craig Tiley, confirmed in recent days that he will only accept tennis players vaccinated against COVID-19 in the tournament that will take place next January, which installed doubts about the presence of Novak Djokovic. In an interview with the Canal 9 Australian, the manager pointed out that the authorities of the state of Victoria, where the contest is held, announced the obligation of the vaccine and this was communicated to the players.
The director of the tournament that is played in Melbourne between January 17-30, 2022 This put an end to rumors about the possibility that some professionals could participate without being vaccinated. “Our clients must be vaccinated; all Australian Open workers must be vaccinated”He added.
In this context, the world number 1 in tennis, Novak Djokovic, “probably will not participate“In the first Grand Slam of the season due to the initiative that requires a mandatory vaccination, as stated in the last hours the father of the Serbian singlist, who lamented a” blackmail “of the organization.
“Of course he would like to go, because he is an athlete and because there are many compatriots there, the diaspora, who would be happy to see Novak,” said the father of Nole, Srdjan Djokovic, to the Belgrade television station First TV. “But I don’t know if that will happen, probably not under those conditions, under those blackmails he will not play”He added.
Nine times champion in Melbourne, the last time in February, Djokovic refuses to reveal whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The head of the organization, Craig Tiley, he assured on Sunday that the Serbian “must be vaccinated to play”. AND Srdjan Djokovic defended the “exclusive and personal right”Of your child to be vaccinated or not, stating that he himself does not know if he has.
He also criticized the conditions of an eventual participation in the tournament, with quarantine in a hotel room for two weeks, as it happened this year: “Excellent idea, I congratulate them, but let them play themselves “.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison himself caused confusion last month by suggesting that tennis players could apply for an exemption from the rule and quarantine themselves if they are not vaccinated in order to participate in the Australian Open. Nevertheless, Victoria state authorities later stressed that all players must be inoculated against covid-19.
Australia partially reopened its international borders on November 1, after closing them in March 2020, having reached the vaccination goal of 80 percent of the population. During the pandemic, it has canceled countless sporting events such as the Formula One and MotoGP Grand Prix, as well as rugby, golf and popular horse racing tournaments, but since October it has already begun to allow spectators to return to sports stadiums in a manner staggered.
Djokovic, what in Melbourne I would look for your 21º Grand Slam record, tested positive in June 2020, during a solidarity tournament that he organized in The Balkans. Two months earlier, he had been against mandatory vaccination.
KEEP READING
