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If you follow tennis, you probably know that Novak Djokovic of Serbia is the best in the sport right now. So you’d think that Australia would welcome him to their country to play in the Australian Open.
Apparently not. Turns out that Djokovic has not gotten his Covid jabs, and so the Aussies are kicking him out.
Not only that, authorities held Djokovic at the Melbourne city airport for several hours. After that, he was taken to a government detention hotel.
Yes, you read that right — a government detention hotel. And here you thought that Australia was a free nation.
But Novak Djokovic had previously received a medical exemption, according to Tennis Australia. That group confirmed that he followed “a rigorous review process involving two separate independent panels.”
Ah, but he didn’t present the correct entry paperwork when he arrived from Dubai, according to Australia Health Minister Greg Hunt. Djokovic “failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements for Australia and visa has been subsequently canceled,” he said.
Besides, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “Rules are rules.”
Djokovic’s coach and 2001 Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic quipped on social media, “Not the usual trip from Down Under.”
Meanwhile, American tennis player Tennys Sandgren (yes, you read that name correctly) is not playing in the Australian Open this year, also because of the vaccination requirement. He tweeted:
“Just to be crystal clear here. 2 separate medical boards approved his exemption. And politicians are stopping it. Australia doesn’t deserve to host a grand slam.”
Serbian President Aleksandr Vucic assured Djokovic that Serbia is standing with him, saying in a statement:
“I told our Novak that the whole of Serbia is with him and that our bodies are doing everything to see that the harassment of the world’s best tennis player is brought to an end immediately.”
Even some members of the Australian media supported Novak Djokovic:
The handling of the @DjokerNole situation is nothing short of disgraceful & embarrassing, making Australia the laughing stock of the world. All those involved in this shambles have egg on their face. #AusOpen
— Sophie Elsworth (@sophieelsworth) January 6, 2022
And this from a Melbourne reporter:
I am no fan of Novak Djokovic and sceptical of the process that granted him a medical exemption. But the fact is, he now has that exemption. There are no grounds to cancel his visa. It is an appalling way to treat anyone. Australia looks like a backward backwater. A bloody farce!
— NickMcCallum7 (@NickMcCallum7) January 5, 2022
Finally, Avi Yemini, Australian correspondent for Rebel News, recalled how Djokovic donated a large sum of money to Australia in 2020, when the country experienced massive wildfires. And this is how we repay him? asks Yemini.
This is how we repay Novak Djokovic‘s generosity to Australia in our darkest days.
Shameful. pic.twitter.com/nHQOV1d6dB
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 5, 2022
The support for Djokovic may be having results, however. Yemini also reports that Australia’s Federal Circuit Court is now hearing Djokovic’s appeal against his deportation.
Shaimaa Khalil, Australia correspondent for the BBC, writes that Novak Djokovic’s initial exemption prompted anger among some Aussie citizens. After all, their government has exercised draconian measures to try to attain Zero Covid — which, of course, is impossible. And they resent the fact that some athletes could get vaccine exemptions while they can’t. But Khalil also added that the state of Victoria had approved Djokovic’s participation in the Australian Open. Plus, PM Morrison had initially said that it was Victoria’s decision.
But less than a day later Morrison went into his “rules are rules” mode. As Khalil wrote:
“There also seems to be a clear disconnect between federal and state government decisions.”
Sound familiar? Not only that, while cases and chaos are rising in Australia, Morrison is facing an election in a few months. No matter what part of the globe, it always goes back to politics, doesn’t it?
Here in the States, sports writer Hub Arkush threw shade at Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But Arkush is not just your average sports media guy — he’s one of 50 who cast votes for the MVP Award in the NFL. And Arkush said he wouldn’t vote for Rodgers because he’s “the biggest jerk in the league.”
In a league filled with — let’s fact it — lots of “jerks,” why did Arkush single out Aaron Rodgers?
It’s because I won’t get my Covid vaccines, claimed Rodgers.
Elvis Kennedy/flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
And he fired back:
“I don’t know who he is. Nobody knew who he was probably until yesterday’s comments.”
“In my opinion, [the NFL] should exclude future votes [from Arkush]. His problem isn’t with me being a bad guy or the biggest jerk in the league. … His problem is I’m not vaccinated.”
[…] post Australia Deports Tennis Star Djokovic For No Vaccines appeared first on Victory Girls […]
NTSOG says: In Australia the Federal government controls borders and thus entry to the country. Several months ago the Federal Government [Immigration Department] informed [in writing] Tennis Australia and other officials in the state of Victoria where the Tennis Open is held that having caught the Chinese virus in the past – as happened to Djokovic – could not take the place of being vaccinated, yet two so-called ‘medical panels’ at state level [not Federal] went ahead and ‘cleared’ unvaccinated Djokovic to enter the country. [Djokovic’s ‘minders and managers’ perhaps should have done some checking lest he be caught between opposing political ‘forces’.] The Federal Immigration Department is also investigating some other tennis players who may have not met current medical controls at the border. Presently popular sentiment is running against Djokovic as there is the perception that there is one rule for rich tennis players and another rule for the peasants. A cynical person might suggest that Tennis Australia, supported by the Left-wing State government in Victoria, has tried to ‘game’ the Federal government so as to guarantee the success of the Tennis open [circus?] and use it to distract from the very tight and increasingly unpopular medical restrictions that have been imposed on citizens of the State over the last couple of years.
NTSOG says: Further to my initial post: Djokovic has been granted a stay in deportation until his case can be heard in Federal Court later this week. The fact remains that the present requirement for entry to the country is that one be vaccinated. It was actually the Australian Minister for Health who wrote to Tennis Australia on 29 November last detailing the requirements for entry in detail and his letter can be found on line.
Scott says: It seems that maybe instead of getting mad at a tennis player for an exception they can’t get, that the Australian people should rise up against their totalitarian government, and demand the freedoms that they once enjoyed.. of course, if they prefer “peaceful slavery” to :dangerous” freedom, I guess they have what they want… It’s a shame that a country that was a great ally to the US during WWII, and a defender of freedom has degenerated into a country little better than communist China… Her veterans weep…
Australia has become a painfully obvious example that gun control works as intended.. Hint, it was NEVER about safety…(except for totalitarian politicians)
Scott says: “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace.
We ask not your counsels or arms.
Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
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