Welcome to Australian politics for the last 9 years!
Good. Don’t let him play. If he doesn’t want to vax, fine, his dumb choice, but nothing wrong with there being consequences for his actions.
I would prefer it if he doesn’t win another major. There’s something appropriate about the Big Three all being at 20 wins. I hope that’s how they retire.
I think this guy has the same sentiment:
Honestly, I think Djokovic has a real problem. I think it is nearly certain that Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open will have vaccination requirements as well. Some of the ATP events will do it also, particularly those in Europe, though you might not see one in Florida or Cincinnati. He’s going to have to choose between continuing and winning the race or giving up.
In actual tennis, this match between Safiullin and Sinner is great! And Nadal will be in action against Berankis shortly.
Djoker is in a position to get well beyond 20 if he stays healthy. Just get the jab and do it, man.
I’ve never particularly liked Djoker and everything over the last two years hasn’t helped the matter. Probably the most talented tennis player of all time, but I just can’t stand his attitude.
Sinner beats Safiullin in 2 sets. Now Berrettini will face Medvedev. Italy has to sweep Russia to get past them and into the semifinals.
Great news for every other tennis player in the world, but this whole, uh, ‘adventure’ was a bad look for everyone involved. The AO usually seems like the best-managed of all slams. I would expect this sort of drama from the French Open, but them?
This is not to deflect blame from Djokovic and his team here, but that was kind of expected as he’s been on an anti-vaxx/anti-traditional medicine kick for a while now. Doesn’t make it less foolish, but it does make it much less surprising.
It’ll be interesting to see what he does next. Retire? Get vaccinated? Start a competing tennis tour?
I don’t think this has to do with the AO, but with Australia’s entry requirements. It’s the government sending him back home (if the appeal fails).
I seriously doubt that the appeals will fail.
He’ll get in and he’ll win. Though I admit Australian politics is a big mystery to me. The home of Rupert Murdoch seems to be like an amped up version of US politics on both sides.
Why? He fakes a medical concern to not get vaccinated to get in. The Australian people are pissed at him too for trying to fake the rules. There’s literally NOTHING he could have that would warrant skipping the vaccination. Otherwise there’s no way he could compete at the level he is. I don’t see how his appeal would succeed if anyone wants to keep their elected job.
This article lists what possible causes for exemption there are:
Having tested positive for covid in the last six months is probably the reason he’s giving, but perhaps he landed without the pcr test results. Maybe he doesn’t want it to be public because he was out and about after testing positive and he doesn’t want the bad press? All speculation of course.
And he could have just lied as well.
Oops this was satire.
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/rx6ywk/federer_and_nadal_react_to_the_news_of_djokovic/
“dimwitted rat licker”
As far as I know, while those were Tennis Australia rules for medical exemption, the federal rules to get an exemption do not include having had Covid in the last six months.
Basically the Tennis Association may have granted exceptions that the entry visa rules do not accept, and did grant those invalid exceptions knowingly. He’s allowed to play, but not to enter the country.
If this reporting is true I do not see the appeal succeeding.
It seems to be the case that the Victorian government considers that this is grounds for an exemption while the federal government does not consider it sufficient grounds for an exemption. Or at least that’s what the federal government is saying now, despite the fact that, the day before, they were saying it was all up to the Victorian government and they had nothing to do with it.
Personally I don’t know why having had COVID a few months ago means someone can’t be vaccinated now.
He could have murdered a bunch of people on the plane. I mean, as long as we are speculating about things.
On the other hand, they apparently permitted the entry of several other players / tournament staff on this same basis, and the Victoria government says that hundreds of people have been admitted on that basis. Possibly that was all a mistake, but it’s going to hard to explain to a court why only Djokovic was prevented from entering on that basis.
It looks like the federal politicians reacting to public outcry and doing the popular thing, while blaming it all on the state government. On the other hand, Djokovic could just have just taken the vaccinations long ago. At this point everybody involved looks bad.
Edit:
Pretty good snapshot here of the PM’s change of heart over the course of the day:
https://twitter.com/grogsgamut/status/1478851904402649088?s=21
The serious tennis news:
Apparently Djokovic’s parents are pychos, adept at lying and manipulation. Pretty eye opening. Father claims a bunch of mistreatment stuff which statements from him and his wife in same breath contradicts what’s been said.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/rxdzn1/djokovic_family_is_holding_a_press_conference/
The Father:
They crucified Jesus, yet he is still among us. In the same way they are crucifying Novak, they are doing all sorts of things to him, they are trying to bring him to his knees.
They took all of his things, he only has his cellphone, he has nothing to wear, he cant wash his face. Novak is a prisoner of these bastards, shame on them!
They can incarcerate him tonight, shackle him tomorrow, but truth is like water, as it always finds its way. Novak is the Spartacus of the new world that doesn’t tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy,
So his mother says he’s not allowed to contact his family but his father says the only thing he has been allowed to keep with him is his cellphone. Interesting…
A Serb posted:
Novak’s mother used Novak’s success to make lucrative deals with Serbian government, which is extremely corrupt. She is in business with mini hydro power plants which are proven to do nothing but damage to the environment. However, it turned out to be a great way to suck out a lot of money from country’s budget. A lot of shady businessmen and people close to the ruling party started building those mini hydro power plants, they dried out rivers and streams, left villages without water. There were many protest, some even violent, but all those people are untouchable, including Jelena’s mother.
Yeah, his father is a crazy person. His mother just seems upset.
Authorities kept his cell phone for hours while he was being held in the airport, then gave it back to him when they decided to revoke his visa and move him to the holding hotel. I’m sure that’s the normal procedure at immigration pretty much anywhere.
The hysteria about his living conditions are overdone. He’s basically in a bad hotel room, something pretty much everyone has survived.
They spent their parenting life trying to live and raise kids in a war zone, being bombed by NATO, so probably that’s the root of the volatility.
In actual tennis news:
- Nishikori is out of the AO
- Nadal beat Berankis in the Melbourne 250 event
- Canada beat Germany to reach the ATP Cup semis, behind FAA’s surprise upset of Zverev
- The Russians come back to claim the final semi spot