A tennis player who trains and a government that procrastinates before the eyes of the whole world. The Djokovic saga in Melbourne has been in full swing for ten days without anyone knowing whether finally, the world number one will be able to play the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.
Australian Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison found himself under fire on Friday for delaying his decision on whether or not to expel the unvaccinated champion. Turned back on his arrival in Melbourne on January 5 and placed in a detention center, “Nole” was released earlier this week, his lawyers having succeeded in having his revoked visa restored.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke threatened to expel the champion anyway under his discretion. His services later indicated that the decision was delayed by an avalanche of petitions filed by Djokovic’s legal team.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham insisted on Friday that Australia only allows people with a full anti-Covid vaccination schedule or those who have an acceptable medical exemption to enter its territory. “This policy has not changed and we will continue to apply this policy rigorously”, he said on ABC television.
This saga around the tennis champion carries a very strong political charge in Australia, whose inhabitants have endured for almost two years anti-Covid restrictions among the strictest in the world, and where elections are scheduled by May. The Immigration Minister “must now decide whether Djokovic leaves or not,” Labor Senator Kristina Keneally tweeted, noting that the Serb had obtained his visa 58 days earlier. “The Morrison government is simply incompetent. It’s a joke”.
Tsitsipas dismantles “Nole”
For his part, the 34-year-old Serb continued to train in Melbourne on Friday in the hope of securing a 10th title at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, and a 21st Grand Slam victory, which would be a record. The Australian Open draw on Thursday nominated Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, 78th in the world, as Djokovic’s opponent in the first round.
Djokovic admitted to having incorrectly completed his declaration of entry into Australia, and not having followed the isolation rules after testing positive for Covid-19 in December. Some tennis players have pleaded for Djokovic to participate in the Open, but others are much more critical.
Novak Djokovic «played by his own ruless’ by choosing not to be vaccinated before the Australian Open and “Makes the majority of players look like idiots”, said the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number four, on Thursday in an interview with Indian media WION. “It takes a lot of nerve to do it and it puts the whole tournament in jeopardy… I don’t think a lot of players would do that”, he added.
As the omicron variant spreads in Australia, Djokovic’s behavior after he tested positive for the coronavirus in Serbia on December 16 is coming under close scrutiny. The player notably took part in public events, without a mask, on December 16 and 17 in Belgrade, but claimed that he did not yet know he was positive at that time.
In a long message published on Instagram on Wednesday, however, he recognized a “Error of judgment” for having received, knowing that he was asymptomatic, the French daily L’Equipe for an interview on December 18. Djokovic also pleaded “Human error” to explain how a wrong box in their Australia entry form was checked. This document shows that he has attested not to have traveled in the 14 days preceding his arrival. However, he was in Serbia and then in Spain.
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