“I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission.”
Novak Djokovic announced on his Instagram yesterday that he is on the way to Australia. He is happy with his pre-season and the time spent with his family.
According to Craig Tiley the tournament director of the Australian Open, 26 players or someone in their entourage have applied for a special medical exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination. Tiley said only a few were successful, and no special opportunity was granted for Djoko.
Novak’s exemption was granted by an independent group of specialists, and we followed the process set by the Government. 3500 people or so will arrive in Australia to be part of the of the Australian Summer of Tennis and most of them are vaccinated.
Does this send a good message? Does Novak need to come clean? Will there be a backlash from other players?
Over the past 2 years there has been stories in the papers about people missing out on weddings, funerals, saying goodbye to their loved ones due to the pandemic. The boarders have been closed and we haven’t heard about any exemptions being made on any grounds. Is it really fair to grant an exemption to a sports person just so he can try and win his 10th Australian Open?
It is going to be an interesting time. Half of the Channel 9 commentary team has COVID and are currently in isolation. Even the cricket commentators have COVID. For now we have to remember that a very strict process was followed and the decision was made by an independent board. Watch this space.
Editor’s Note • tennis got over 5 minutes of air time on TV this morning on channel 7. The general consensus of the 3 correspondents was that the Auzzie general population would be somewhat outraged. And that we should expect a leak soon to who actually approved this …
