Updated:
Keep
Novak Djokovic back to square one, this time cornered and with the Australian Open two days before the opening. The Australian Government has placed it at kilometer zero for the second time in ten days. The number one tennis player in the world, who has not been vaccinated against Covid, once again faces the machinery of the country in which he won his most emblematic tournament nine times. The Minister of Immigration, Alex Hawke, decided to cancel the Serb’s visa again and place him at the door of the plane back to Europe with “health and public order” as arguments. Djokovic will not be expelled until justice rules this Sunday in an emergency litigation that completed a new chapter with the Serb’s appearance before the authorities after being arrested again.
The Covid in Australia has 976 people admitted to hospitals in a growing trend in the last fourteen days that has gone from 400 cases to almost a thousand today. The trend of infections caused by the Omicron variant remained this Friday at 34,836 new positives after an overwhelming week in which the island reached 52,000 infected people at the peak of maximum incidence. According to official data published by the newspaper ‘The Age’, 92.42 percent of the population has the complete pattern and 94.95 percent have injected the first dose. That means almost 21 million Australians have received at least the first vaccine. In the state of Victoria, where the tennis tournament is held, the proportion is equivalent with respect to the country: 92.65 percent are fully vaccinated and 93.97 percent received the first dose.
In the heat of these data, the conservative government of Australia, which was the victim of a snub when a Melbourne court annulled Djokovic’s deportation last Monday, undertook a new route for the expulsion of the unvaccinated tennis player. “The rules are the rules and no one is above them, especially when it comes to our borders,” said Alex Hawke, Immigration Minister, former military officer and right-hand man to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “I do not have a message for Novak, but for all those who wish to visit Australia: they must receive both vaccines,” he had pointed out. Yesterday, when explaining his decision, he moved to a more offensive stratum. “Today I exercised my power. (…) For reasons of health and public order, and because it was in the general interest to do so». After this cancellation of the visa, the Serb may be prohibited from entering the country for three years.
a federal court
Although Djokovic will not be expelled until his appeal is examined in court this Sunday, the situation remains very tense between both parties. The Government arrested the Serb early on Saturday (late night in Spain), which led to an interview with immigration authorities. Djokovic will only be able to leave custody to attend the hearing with the justice on Sunday. Judge Antony Kelly, who decided last Monday to revoke the resolution of the Australian Government, has declared himself incompetent and refers the case to a federal court in Melbourne.
Social and political pressure is growing in the southern country against the winner of 20 Grand Slams. “Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic and they hope, not surprisingly, that the result of these sacrifices will be protected”, insisted Prime Minister Scott Morrison, leader of one of the countries that has applied the most severe restrictions to stop the spread of Covid. ‘The Age’ columnist David Crowe opined that “sending a wealthy tennis star home after he broke entry rules made too much sense for a country whose citizens have paid a heavy price in the pandemic. The political cost of letting Djokovic stay was too high for Morrison.
The anti-vaccine sentiment
Although Djokovic has publicly positioned himself against mandatory vaccination, he has not campaigned against vaccination in general. He has spoken on multiple occasions about the benefits of alternative approaches to health and nutrition. His lawyers called Alex Hawke’s decision “patently irrational.” They argue that the Immigration Minister based his decision to cancel the star’s visa on the fact that his presence in Australia “would stoke anti-vaccine sentiment”. And they also said that they hoped that their allegations could be heard on Sunday, the day before the tournament begins.
The controversy between the two sides has intensified a global debate over the rights of the unvaccinated and has become a political issue of some complexity for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is on the verge of campaigning for elections scheduled in next May.
The opposition Labor leader in the country, Anthony Albanese, noted: “It should never have come to this… How is it possible that he was granted a visa and a medical exemption if he was not fully vaccinated? The tennis player has raised political tension in Australia.
In recent days Djokovic’s defense has weakened with revelations that leave him in a very bad place. The tennis player has recognized this week “mistakes” in the midst of the controversy. In a statement on social media, he conceded that the travel declaration provided to local authorities contained false information, but claimed that it was completed by a member of his team. He also admitted having made a mistake when meeting for an interview with a journalist from the French newspaper ‘L’Equipe’ on December 18 even knowing that he was infected with coronavirus. By virtue of this cataract of falsehoods, some tennis players have already clearly positioned themselves against the world number one. The Greek Tsitsipas accused him of “having played by their own rules.” “He has put the entire tournament in jeopardy… I don’t think there are many tennis players who would have done the same.”
Andy Murray, former world number one and winner of three Grand Slam tournaments, has considered that “the situation is not good for tennis, for the Australian Open and for Novak.”
Covid in Serbia
The coronavirus has caused the death of 13,003 people in Serbia, the homeland of the tennis player that has a population of 6.9 million inhabitants. The Balkan nation has registered 1.39 million positive cases. It is estimated that around 47 per cent of Serbs have been vaccinated with the full schedule.
Australia has represented the first conflict for the Serbian, but probably not the last. Many countries require vaccination to cross the border. Djokovic can either get vaccinated and remain number one or entrench his position and jeopardize his career.
www.abc.es
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism