Djokovic Deported Due To Vaccination Status; Australia Criticised For Decision
By Ethan Tsai
Belgrade — Jan. 13 — Novak Djokovic, who is the No. 1 tennis player in the world by ranking, has recently come under fire by Australian officials for refusing to receive a coronavirus vaccine before the Australian Open. While Djokovic was temporarily granted an exemption visa, it was canceled due to the potential COVID-19 risk. He was recently deported back to his home country, Serbia, by Australian authorities for not obeying Australian COVID-19 restrictions.
Djokovic first encountered issues several days before he arrived in Australia when he attended a basketball game in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. After being informed that some attendees had contracted COVID-19, he took a rapid and PCR test. After the rapid test returned negative, he attended several more events in Serbia. However, the next day, he was informed of his positive PCR test. According to his written witness testimony, he tested negative five days later. With this information, he then traveled to Australia and arrived on January 5 before being taken into custody the next day. The Australian government read out a letter sent to the Australian Open officials, stating that if a player has contracted COVID-19 in the past six months they must be quarantined when entering.
Djokovic has conceded that a travel document given to Australian officials contained false information, as he stated in the document that he had not traveled in the past 14 days. On the contrary, there is video evidence of him in Spain in the previous week. He has also admitted to attending an interview and photoshoot after receiving news of his positive COVID-19 test, which violates his home country’s laws. Serbian PM Ana Brnabic has spoken out against Djokovic’s actions in Australia, stating that he would have “clearly violated the rules” if he was in Serbia. When asked about Serbia’s response if he was found to have breached quarantine, she affirmed that the Serbian government would handle the situation.
With the Australian government given the right to deport by a judge, and a few days taking that action, Djokovic has returned to a country in an uproar. With everyday citizens and high-ranking politicians slamming the Australian government, Djokovic’s idol status back home has led to most taking his side. Other professional tennis players have also commented in support of Djokovic’s case, with Canadian Vasek Pospisil, Briton Greg Rusedski, and American Reilly Opelka all defending Djokovic, among others. Taking a more combative stance, Serbian President Aleksander Vučić denounced the “harassment” and “political witch-hunt” which he saw as unfairly targeting “the best tennis player in the world”. The Serbian Foreign Ministry also weighed in, saying he had been “lured to Australia to be humiliated”.
Potentially because Serbia is one of the least vaccinated countries in the world, Serbian public media such as the tabloids Informer and Daily Blic have both shown their support for the tennis star, blaming Australia for disgracing Djokovic and claiming that he was used as a political pawn. Serbian civilians are divided on the issue, with some criticizing the decision to allegedly utilize Djokovic for political reasons ahead of the Australian elections. On the other hand, others accept the deportation news with a “their country, their rules” mindset. “I think he’ll have a problem in other tournaments,” said Serbian Marko Stanic, “Because it seems vaccination is going to be mandatory for all of them.”
Seizing the opportunity to clearly lay out their rules in the wake of Australia’s decision, both Spain and France have announced they would take similar actions if Spanish and French Open arrivals violated their own home-country COVID-19 restrictions. It remains to be seen how other, less restrictive countries will respond to Djokovic’s deportation.
