After all the entry chaos surrounding Novak Djokovic, the tournament director of the Australian Open is now commenting on the situation in detail for the first time. For him it is clear that the Serb will be welcome again next year. But that doesn’t sound really convincing.
Novak Djokovic’s visa refusal actually resulted in a three-year entry ban in Australia. While the government has already indicated that a world No. 1 visa would need to be re-examined next year, depending on how the pandemic develops, that could be a difficult undertaking.
The tournament director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, has no concerns in this regard. After hiding in the background throughout the Djokovic process, he is now commenting on the fiasco of the last few weeks for the first time.
“Djokovic will be in Melbourne next year,” Tiley said in an interview with The Guardian. “He’s number 1 in the world and he loves the Australian Open.” Is this justification sufficient for participation? One would have expected a stronger argument.
“Trying to do the right thing”
Tiley is generally very careful about his answers. After all, he too is guilty of a lot in the whole chaos. It was he who encouraged Djokovic to travel to Australia in the first place. In his defence, he says that the Covid rules and regulations were constantly changing at this point.
“It’s important to know that we’ve always tried to do the right thing. At that time we were at the beginning of Omikron, and that’s why we were constantly looking for clarity. There was a lot of complex and conflicting information before and after, and it still is.”
Something went wrong with the communication. The exchange with the government did not provide enough clarity, which is why Tiley acted as he did. As a plus, he can be credited that Djokovic has no plans to sue the tournament.
Tiley is already counted
Whether Tiley can get away with these excuses is currently a completely different question. Many fans demanded his resignation even before the tournament started. That hasn’t changed in the last few days. With loud chants, the Australians also demanded his departure in the stadium. However, Tiley continues to reiterate that he has no intention of retiring after this tournament.
He alone will not be able to decide this. It is quite conceivable that those responsible for the tournament did not want to act hastily in all the chaos and that Tiley is therefore still in office. Whether that will still be the case in 2023 is another matter entirely. Just like the participation of Novak Djokovic.
