{"id":1107235,"date":"2021-12-10T19:28:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T00:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1107235"},"modified":"2021-12-10T19:28:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T00:28:40","slug":"australia-pm-steps-in-as-officials-bicker-over-vaccine-mandate-for-tennis-star-novak-djokovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/australia-pm-steps-in-as-officials-bicker-over-vaccine-mandate-for-tennis-star-novak-djokovic\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia: PM Steps In as Officials Bicker over Vaccine Mandate for Tennis Star Novak Djokovic"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Faustralia-pm-steps-in-as-officials-bicker-over-vaccine-mandate-for-tennis-star-novak-djokovic%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1107235&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison affirmed in remarks on Thursday that tennis star Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked player in the world, will have to prove that he has received a Chinese coronavirus vaccine to play in the upcoming Australian Open.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic, who is tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most Grand Slam titles in history, has openly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/tennis\/story\/_\/id\/29069582\/novak-djokovic-says-keeping-open-mind-covid-19-vaccination\">stated<\/a>, \u201cpersonally, I am opposed to vaccination\u201d in the context of experimental Chinese coronavirus vaccines. The Serbian player has repeatedly described mandatory vaccination as a violation of \u201cfreedom of choice\u201d even has his position has evolved from opposing vaccination \u2013 the previous comment is from April 2020 \u2013 to insisting his vaccination status is a private matter.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Djokovic won his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open and has been most successful there, making it of particular sentimental importance to him and his presence especially important for Australian tennis fans. He has won more Australian Open men\u2019s singles titles than any other player in history. The 2022 iteration of the tournament has already seen two top crowd-pleasing players, Federer and Serena Williams, withdraw due to injuries, jeopardizing its ability to attract spectators. Losing Djokovic would likely be a notable economic blow to the tournament.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16943360\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"32\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/06\/wi\/afp\/28\/roger-federer-serena-williams-40-defy-age-by-seeking-ninth-wimbledon-singles.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16943360 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/roger-federer-serena-williams-40-defy-age-by-seeking-ninth-wimbledon-singles-1024x681-1.jpg\" alt=\"AFP\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Roger Federer and Serena Williams (AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>After several days in which tennis and government officials appeared to bounce responsibility of enforcing Australia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-australia-59486285\">repressive<\/a>&nbsp;coronavirus policies, which require people who enter the country to be fully vaccinated, on Djokovic, Morrison asserted that he would not receive an exemption from the law on the basis of his job.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe will follow the same rules as anyone else would. There are no special rules for tennis players or anyone else,\u201d Morrison <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynews.com.au\/australia-news\/sport\/scott-morrison-slams-rumours-tennis-star-novak-djokovic-will-receive-a-medical-exemption-for-the-australian-open\/news-story\/ac442497dd6312d8f12b01f800459fbe\">told<\/a> Sky News. Tennis players, he said, would have to follow \u201cany of the same rules that anyone else would be seeking to come to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18852354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/11\/wi\/ap\/21\/virus-outbreak-australia-australian-prime-minister-scott-morrison-gestures-press-conference.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18852354 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/virus-outbreak-australia-australian-prime-minister-scott-morrison-gestures-press-conference-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Associated Press\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gestures during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. (Lukas Coch\/AAP Image via AP)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Like Tennis Australia, the organization that stages the tournament, and local officials in the state of Victoria where the event will take place, Morrison pointedly distanced himself from the responsibility of actually banning Djokovic from the country in the event that he did not present proof of vaccination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey apply by the same rules&nbsp;and that they are the rules in place&nbsp;for the Victorian government and the&nbsp;Australian Open itself and they have&nbsp;their rules,\u201d Morrison said. Medical exemption \u201cdecisions&nbsp;are being made by medical officials&nbsp;and other officials, not by&nbsp;politicians,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of who is responsible for keeping Djokovic out of the country, and the tournament, made headlines this week when Australian outlets accused Tennis Australia of cooperating with Djokovic to find a way to exempt him from the vaccine mandate. The deputy premier of Victoria, James Merlino, in response to the headlines, asserted on Tuesday his government\u2019s \u201cexpectation\u201d was that Djokovic, and anyone else involved in any way with the tournament, would be vaccinated. The use of the word \u201cexpectation\u201d suggested that Tennis Australia would be responsible for ensuring the vaccination status of participants.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re the rules. Medical exemptions are just that \u2013 it\u2019s not a loophole for privileged tennis players,\u201d Merlino <a href=\"https:\/\/au.sports.yahoo.com\/djokovic-no-guarantee-medical-exemption-023629140.html\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the speculation, Tennis Australia issued its own statement on Wednesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2021\/dec\/08\/tennis-australia-denies-seeking-loopholes-for-unvaccinated-players-amid-novak-djokovic-row\">calling<\/a> reports that it was helping Djokovic \u201csimply untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAny application for a medical exemption must follow strict government guidelines based on Atagi (Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation) clinical advice,\u201d the statement read, bouncing the responsibility back to the government. \u201cThis is the same process that applies to any person wanting to enter Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the confusion was a press release issued by the organizers of the Australian Open on Wednesday that not only listed Djokovic as a player in the tournament, but used his presence to advertise the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefending champion Djokovic will play for an incredible 10th Australian Open trophy \u2014 and a men\u2019s record 21st major singles title \u2014 and will be the favourite,\u201d the press release <a href=\"https:\/\/ausopen.com\/articles\/news\/worlds-best-set-australian-open-20225\">read<\/a>, \u201cin a draw which showcases 49 of the world\u2019s top 50 including world No.2&nbsp;Daniil Medvedev, who beat top-ranked Djokovic in this year\u2019s US Open final.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Craig Tiley, the Australian Open tournament director, tried to clarify the situation by asserting that the published list was \u201cautomatic\u201d and did not indicate a confirmation of who would play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe entry list is automatic based on your ranking and then in the next two weeks it\u2019s determined who on that list is coming and then a couple of weeks after that, we do the draw,\u201d Tiley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.india.com\/sports\/novak-djokovic-adds-to-australian-open-suspense-organisers-say-theres-a-lot-of-confusion-5132802\/\">said<\/a> on Thursday.&nbsp;\u201cPlayers will pull themselves off the entry list if 100 percent they know they aren\u2019t coming up, it\u2019s not an actual list of confirmation of players in the Australian Open.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19090538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"38\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-462617756.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19090538 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-462617756-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 01: Novak Djokovic of Serbia holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup as he poses with Tournament Director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley after winning his men&#039;s final match against Andy Murray of Great Britain during day 14 of the 2015 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on February 1, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Novak Djokovic of Serbia holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup as he poses with Tournament Director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley after winning his men\u2019s final match against Andy Murray of Great Britain during day 14 of the 2015 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on February 1, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Williams appeared to pull herself off the list before the press release went out this week. Williams is ranked 41 in the world; the list skips from 40 to 42.<\/p>\n<p>Tiley insisted that it was \u201creally hard\u201d to say if Djokovic would appear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he\u2019s vaccinated, we need evidence of that certificate and if he\u2019s not vaccinated and has a medical condition, he\u2019ll have to go through the medical exemption process and that\u2019s managed blind so we don\u2019t know who\u2019s making that application,\u201d Tiley explained. \u201cA bit more will play out in the next couple of weeks, we know he wants to come as does every other athlete but they know the criteria and conditions they have to accept to come into Australia and into Victoria to play the Australian Open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tiley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-12-09\/novak-djokovic-vaccine-medical-exemption\/100685830\">emphasized<\/a> that \u201cAustralian authorities\u201d had the power over medical exemptions, so it was not up to Tennis Australia officials to enforce the law on Djokovic.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic himself has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/djokovic-to-make-australian-open-decision-very-soon\/\">refused<\/a> to say whether or not he will appear at the Australia Open, urging the public to be patient with him \u2013 an indication that he is attempting to go through the process necessary to play, and one that he is not vaccinated. A vaccinated player can just show his documentation and not expect any pushback from authorities, as both government and Tennis Australia officials have insisted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand you want answers on where and how I am going to start the new season, but we\u2019ll see what the future holds,\u201d Djokovic said last week. \u201cI can\u2019t give you a date, but obviously the Australian Open is coming soon, so you will know very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic\u2019s father Srdjan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/health\/2021\/11\/29\/father-novak-djokovic-probably-wont-play-australian-open-vaccine-blackmail\/\">told<\/a> a Serbian television program in November that his son \u201cprobably won\u2019t\u201d attend the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder these blackmails and conditions, he probably won\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t do that. And he\u2019s my son, so you decide for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The elder Djokovic added that he did not know if his son had received a Chinese coronavirus vaccine.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639219462160000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0nbIzAFBYqoFujUwZYEBiR\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639219462160000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1FtA5LeZaIK0U2p_HVfomA\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison affirmed in remarks on Thursday that tennis star Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked player in the world, will have to prove that he has received a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1107235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1107235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1107235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1107235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1107235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}