THE PLOT THICKENS in Novak Djokovic’s case, as Australian authorities play BLAME GAME
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Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic’s case against the Australian authorities has managed to reveal some deep loopholes in Australia’s medical exemption policy. In the past few weeks, Djokovic getting a medical exemption has transpired into one of the biggest controversies in the history of the Australian Open.
In the lead-up to the hearing of Djokovic’s case, there has been a lot of finger-pointing between the Federal Government, the State government, and Tennis Australia. The three have been passing blame for the Djokovic exemption and the sudden change in the rules.
In the STATE V/S FEDERAL debacle, Novak Djokovic the one getting tormented
Novak Djokovic was asked to leave Australia by the Australian authorities for not being able to show the required documents at the Melbourne airport. However, Djokovic decided to file a case against the Australian authorities who first gave him the exemption and then denied it at the airport.
In the lead-up to the hearing of Djokovic’s case scheduled to be held this Monday, there has been a lot of finger-pointing between the main authorities responsible for providing and then snatching away the medical exemption from the world No.1
At first, it was the Victorian government who blamed Tennis Australia for withholding information about the new medical exemption rules given to them by the Federal government. Tennis Australia has openly denied these claims, Craig Tiley the CEO of Tennis Australia in a recent interview said that his team has done an unbelievable job.
Tiley said, “There’s a lot of finger-pointing going on and a lot of blaming going on, but I can assure you our team has done an unbelievable job and have done everything they possibly could according to all the instructions that they have been provided,”
Finally, the federal government’s point of view was revealed in some leaked letters, and the process of passing the blame continued. In the leaked letters to and from Tennis Australia, Paul Kelly, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, wrote that the exemption was a matter to be handled by the Victorian state government, and the Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
In a leaked letter dated November 10th, Allison Cairns. the adviser to the federal chief health officer told Tennis Australia that the Victorian state government was responsible for assessing vaccine exemptions. He wrote, “Medical exemptions from vaccination will be at the discretion of the state or territory, so it would probably be good to touch base with the state of arrival earlier rather than later to determine if any will be an issue,”
In another letter dated November 22nd, Tennis Australia’s chief medical officer, Carolyn Broderick took advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. After which they said, “Anyone with a history of recent COVID-19 infection (defined as within 6 months) and who can provide appropriate evidence of this medical history, is exempt from quarantine obligations upon arrival in Victoria from overseas.”
These letters reveal that the Victorian State Government was responsible to provide a medical exemption to foreigners entering Victoria. However, in Djokovic’s case, he was denied entry due to a new exemption rule which nullified the recent Covid-19 infection criteria for an exemption.
There has been a lot of passing of blame in the past couple of days and it has made the situation worse. With the hearing just hours away, it seems that these problems might prove to be beneficial for Djokovic and his lawyers in presenting a solid case against the three authorities
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Parth Dubey
(314 Articles Published)