Every year Tennis fans wait for January to witness the world’s best fighting for the Australian Open Crown. The year 2022 may turn out to be disappointing for them as world Number 1 Tennis star Novak Djokovic has been shut down by Australia.
Novak Djokovic held by Australian authorities
Chances of Novak Djokovic contesting in this year’s Australian Open are getting slimmer day by day. Currently, he is having a high-profile clash with Australian authorities over-vaccination status.
The Australian government has made it mandatory for everyone visiting the country to have a certificate for vaccination. This has been done in order to ensure that tourists do not contribute to already soaring rates of Covid infections in the country. Only people who have officially recognised medical reasons for not taking vaccinations can visit Australia without vaccination.
Djokovic claims an exceptional exemption
Novak Djokovic claimed that he is exempted from vaccination. After landing in Australia, he made a social media post and announced that he has landed in the country with ‘exempted permissions’. Djokovic claimed to have exemption permissions from the Victorian Government. Victoria is the state in which the Australian Open is played.
Meanwhile, border authorities did not accept exemption permissions. They said that Djokovic did not meet the necessary criteria to be left free in the country. Local authorities forced him to wait for more than eight hours to finish bureaucratic procedures. Later, Novak was moved to a hotel where Djokovic is under close watch by Immigration officials.
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A diplomatic tussle between Australia and Serbia
As expected, the issue became a point for a diplomatic tussle between Australia and Serbia. Serbian President said that he is personally in touch with the Tennis star. He also termed Djokovic’s detention as the harassment of the best tennis player in the world. Meanwhile, Serbia is said to have summoned an Australian diplomat to the country.
Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister seemed to support his officials. He made a Twitter post proclaiming that no one is above the law. When asked about different rules related to vaccinations in the country, Morrison passed on the responsibility to Djokovic.
Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled. Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant.
— Scott Morrison (@ScoMo30) January 5, 2022
Morrison’s statements hinted that Djokovic may be singled out since he had publicly announced his exemption. “When you get people making public statements about what they say they have, and they’re going to do, they draw significant attention to themselves,” said Morrison. He further added that the Border force gets more vigilant when someone announces their exemptions in public.
Australia is trying to beat Covid-19
Australia is trying hard to beat Covid-19. Various campaigns have been launched to inoculate the full Australian population. However, obvious distrust of vaccines promoted by Pharma Lobby has reached its zenith. A lot of Australians believe that they will become subjects of mass experiments if they are vaccinated. Moreover, rising cases of vaccines’ side-effects along with new variants of Covid-19 have widened the trust gap between people and the government.
Novak is the fittest player in the world
Novak has been one of the most formidable players of the open era. Djokovic is widely held as someone who rose through the ranks when Federer and Nadal were ruling the roster. Australian Open is one of his favourite tournaments as he has won it for a record 9 times in his career. He is one of the fittest players; both mentally and physically.
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Djokovic has been infected with Covid in the past and he has natural immunity against the virus. Natural immunity has been observed to be more effective when compared to vaccine-induced immunity. Its sad spectators will be deprived of Djokovic’s athleticism in spite of him being completely fit.