The Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, Enrique RuizEscudero, has underlined this Tuesday that Novak Djokovic, number one in the world, may be a claim for the Mutua Madrid Open but has asked to be “very clear” on the need to respect the rules to influence that the Serbian tennis player must be vaccinated if he wants to play the Madrid tournament.
“I do not doubt the claim that it may be for that tournament but I reiterate that it will have to come vaccinated so that it can compete, logically,” stressed the head of Madrid’s Health Department in statements to the press after an act at the Henares Hospital, in Coslada, where he has presented the new medical video consultation through the Virtual Health Card.
The Madrid counselor has thus referred to the words of the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, who has argued that Djokovic would be “a big claim” for the tournament to be held from April 26 to May 8 in Madrid since he remains number one despite what happened in Australia and the fact that France has already announced that he will not be able to participate in Roland Garros.
“I don’t doubt the tennis quality of Novak Djokovic, because that is sufficiently contrasted But yes, from a health point of view, if he is not vaccinated, he will not be able to participate in a tournament in Madrid since the rules are there to be complied with and must be complied with by all the people who come to play this tournament”, Ruiz Escudero stressed.
Along these lines, he stressed the need to comply with the rules and recalled that, as in tennis tournaments, they are also met in the Community in other events such as the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), which will require vaccination certificate or antigen test to the attendees.
“What has happened to him in Australia has been not comply with the rules and has been deported. I believe that in this sense we must be very clear and I insist that the rules are there for everyone to comply with in a similar way”, emphasized the counselor after Australia’s decision to expel the tennis player for not complying with the requirement of being vaccinated against Covid-19.
The Government advises you to get vaccinated
For her part, the government spokeswoman, Isabel Rodríguez, has assured that what the Serbian tennis player would have to do is get vaccinated against covid-19 and be an example because “an elite athlete has many eyes that look at him.”
This is what Rodríguez said this Tuesday at the press conference after the Minister council, when asked about the possibility that the athlete could play a tournament in Madrid after being expelled from Australia.
The representative of the Government has underlined that the strategy of success in Spain in the fight against covid-19 has been vaccination without obligation, while assuring that “what Mr. Djokovic has to do is get vaccinated”.
“It is not enough just to be great on the track but you have to be great in life. When you are an elite athlete, they have many eyes that look at you and exemplarity is important,” Rodríguez emphasized, while extolling the attitude of many Spanish athletes against covid, as is the case of Rafa Nadal, who is also a tennis player.
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