“Everyone who participates must be vaccinated or have a valid reason not to be” Victorian Sports minister Martin Pakula on discussions to let Novak Djokovic play at the 2022 Australian Open

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic‘s participation in the 2022 Australian Open remains an unsolved question as the player refuses to give his vaccination status while the tournament officials and the state government has already declared that no unvaccinated player, official or spectator will be allowed on the premises.

Novak’s last press conference was after Serbia’s defeat in the semi-finals of the 2021 Davis Cup Finals wherein he stated that he will be making his decision about his participation in the Grand Slam soon after taking a little break with his family. But since then he has not spoken anything about it.

Elsewhere, there have been discussions about letting the players who are not vaccinated into the Slam which has not gone well with the people in Australia and more importantly the politicians who have made the decision to not allow any unvaccinated person in Melbourne itself.

“If Djokovic chooses not to be vaccinated and is not accepted by the expert committee, he will not play the Australian Open. To enter the tournament, he must have a good excuse to explain the reason for his non-vaccination. If people think we did this to try and give Djokovic a chance to play in the tournament, they are wrong. 

“Everyone who participates must be vaccinated or have a valid reason not to be. It is not for me, nor for the Prime Minister or any other politician to determine whether or not he can play the tournament. This will be evaluated by a committee of experts,” said Martin Pakula, the Minister of Sports of the State of Victoria as reported in the column of The Ge where the Grand Slam will begin in less than a month’s time.

Novak Djokovic made the entry list of both the ATP Cup and the Australian Open

With the entry lists announced for the 2022 ATP Cup and the 2022 Australian Open, Djokovic’s name was on top of the list that has hinted towards the Serbian’s participation in both the tournaments that will be held in Sydney and Melbourne respectively.

While the name on the list does not guarantee his participation, it certainly indicates that the player has yet not officially announced his decision to withdraw his name from the tournament and it all comes down to his decision to reveal his vaccination status, unlike Pierre-Hugues Herbert who has decided to withdraw from the Grand Slam as he remains unvaccinated.

Also Read: “It’s a concern” Andy Murray speaks about his participation at the Australian Open 2022