Australian minister says allowing back Novak Djokovic will be a “slap in the face”, says the Serb’s ban is completely justified
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Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews (L) and Novak Djokovic
Australian Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has said former World No.1 Novak Djokovic should not be allowed to flout rules and compete in Melbourne next year just because he enjoys financial power or is unique for certain reasons.
Speaking to Virginia Trioli on the Mornings radio show, Andrews also said that there could be a possibility that Djokovic remains banned for three years considering he had to be deported for flouting similar vaccination rules in 2022 as well.
“It would be a slap in the face for those people in Australia who did the right thing… if all of a sudden, Novak Djokovic is allowed back into the country, simply because he is a high-ranking tennis player with many millions of dollars,” she said.
Craig Tiley suggests Novak Djokovic could play because COVID scenario has changed
Recently, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley signaled a relaxation in vaccination requirements because of “a very different environment with people travelling freely around the world.”
Djokovic had to face a big share of public controversies in the recent past. In early 2022, the 21-time Grand Slam champion was booted out of Melbourne due to Australia’s anti-vaccine laws. It resulted in a lot of worldwide debate as the Serb had initially landed in Australia claiming that he had an exemption from Tennis Australia, only to be rejected later by Australia’s Supreme Court.
During court hearings, the Serb was reportedly detained in sub-standard conditions at a hotel. He was deported from Melbourne a day before the Australian Open began.
Before the 2022 Australian Open, Tiley had come forward to say how things were unfair for Djokovic considering his medical information was private and confidential.
However, now, with the COVID-19 world scenario totally different, Tiley thinks the Serb won’t have to go through the same situation.
We are at a different point in time now than we were nine months ago and I think it’s a very different environment with people travelling freely around the world and we hope to have all the best players here in January,” said the tournament director.
Tiley had earlier also supported Djokovic. “In many ways, it was a bit unfair to Novak. He said his medical information was private and confidential. He’s won the Australian Open nine times, which is truly remarkable. Of his 20 Grand Slam titles, almost half have been won here. I spent a lot of time with him. I fully understand his point of view, his medical situation is personal and he has the right to keep it to himself. He will unveil shortly this position,” Tiley had said in an interview with CODE in December 2021.
It’s still left to be seen what the final situation will be for Djokovic at the 2023 Australian Open but the world scenario sure is different this time around!
Also Read: Novak Djokovic’s heartwarming tribute leaves Roger Federer emotional
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Ashish Maggo
(191 Articles Published)