Why aren't we talking about Novak Djokovic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not his fan and I am vaccinated but I can’t help but think how his stand off with Australian officials exemplifies the madness going on in the world. Talk about throwing the babag out with the bath water: firing yesterday’s heroes who have no vaccine, making someone who had a severe anaphylactic shock take their booster, and now not letting someone play their well deserved match. We have all become China and worse, Australia.

Yeah, nope. He wants a waiver for the 14 day quarantine period. Rules says either be vaccinated or have a medical exemption; he is claiming a medical exemption thereby implying he isn't vaccinated. He doesn't "deserve" to play above those rules. Period. He knew what the rules were. And what kind of pro athlete at his level doesn't have incredible international immigration attorneys?! He plays all around the world, visa requirements aren't unique to Australia or unique to post-covid times. This entire situation is of his own making.

My guess is that he is actually vaccinated but he doesn't want to admit it so he's going for some medical exemption, except the reason for his medical exemption isn't valid for the type of visa he requires to play at the tournament. His lawyers didn't know this? This is ridiculous. So he wants probably a bogus medical exemption (would be he has severe reaction to a covid vaccine or covid within the last 60 days) to a different type of visa but have it apply to this visa? What?

[Anonymous]

I read that his medical exemption was he recently had Covid. That doesn't make sense why people can be medically exempted because they recently had Covid but that is a different story.

He brought this all on himself. Couldn't he have just kept quiet in his social media posts and not bother to say that he was going to Australia because of the medical exemption? Did he really need to say that? If he hadn't said that, the citizens (rightly so) wouldn't have gotten so angry at the double standard and forced the government officials to refuse him entry.

[Anonymous]

Also, the Victorian state and Tennis Australia should have never approved his exemption either. I read that way back in November, Australia's top health official (I think) said a prior use of Covid was not a good reason for granting medical exemptions. Why was Djokovic granted the exemption in the first place?

1. Djokovic is an idiot for not getting vaxxed if he really wanted to play this tournament. He knew the rules.
2. Because he is an idiot, he tried to get the medical exemption. I guess, fine? Can't hurt to ask and that type of thing.
3. The state of Victoria and Tennis Australia SHOULD NOT have granted him the medical exemption in the first place. They knew the rules. He only received the medical exemption because he is Novak Djokovic.
4. Novak just needs to go home at this point
5. It should be examined with State of Victoria and Tennis Australia were okaying medical exemptions to Novak and others involved in the Australian Open. Don't let Novak take the fall for this entire situation.

[Anonymous]

There are a handful of other posters granted exemptions to play AP but djoko is denied entry because of a technicality. I mean it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy but seems double standard to me

[Anonymous]

Can’t stand him. I would love to see this cost him everything.

[Anonymous]

Loved Nadal's response to the situation (per CNN):

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/tennis/rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-australian-open-spt-intl/index.html

"He made his own decisions, and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences"

"Of course, I don't like the situation that is happening. In some way, I feel sorry for him. But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision."

"It's normal that the people here in Australia get very frustrated with the [Djokovic] case because they have been going through a lot of very hard lockdowns, and a lot of people were not able to come back home.
From my point of view, that's the only thing that I can say is I believe in what the people who know about medicine say, and if the people say that we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's appalling how Serena is treated compared to Djokovic.

Simon is an angel. Serena is gross. Djokovic is a spoiled brat. Let’s be honest here.

What now?

[Anonymous]

So apparently, he is claiming a medical exemption from having had Covid-19 recently. And while he may have conned Tennis Australia into accepting this since he is the World #1, neither TA nor Djokovic bothered to clear this with the Australian nor Victoria authorities who have cancelled his Visa for failing to follow the national and state regulations for international travel into the country.

Sorry, but even VIPs don't get to bypass the national protocols that are in place to keep the country safe. No-vax DjoCovid indeed.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/visa-bungle-delays-novak-djokovic-s-entry-into-australia-20220105-p59m75.html

[Anonymous]

I'm a big fan of his. It's easy to dismiss him and call him a jerk, but if you actually follow his career and actions, especially charitable efforts (including donations for covid wards in spain, italy and serbia, and for medical treatment of children), I'd venture most would change their (negative opinions).

All that aside,

I don't think they should let him in. i don't think any big gathering should let anyone unvaccinated in. You are too medically fragile to join? That is too bad, there's a pandemic, try again next time. They also should not have let other athletes with medical exemptions (but they did). Covid doesn't care that you have a medical exemption. It only cares about whether you can be infected, and omicron seems to be doing just fine spreading around, especially in unvaccinated individuals.

The biggest problem, though, is that they are now using him as a pawn for political gains. Australia is in deep trouble with covid, they have people defecating in the streets while waiting for tests for hours and hours. So, this spectacle where the PM gets to flex about his tough treatment of VIPs is not about Djokovic. But it's really sad and distasteful to watch. Australia can do and deserves so much better. A polite, "sorry, mate, but our hands are simply tied here," would go a long way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big fan of his. It's easy to dismiss him and call him a jerk, but if you actually follow his career and actions, especially charitable efforts (including donations for covid wards in spain, italy and serbia, and for medical treatment of children), I'd venture most would change their (negative opinions).

I only watch tennis casually, but I used to have a pretty good opinion of Djokovic for many years. I followed him on social media and saw his charitable work with his foundation, preschools in Serbia, etc. Even when he held the charity tennis tournament in May or June 2020, I gave him the benefit of the doubt as I figured, well, maybe this is a good lesson learned for him. It was also early in the pandemic when one might have reasonably thought that outdoor, no-contact sports like tennis could be played safely (I remember one of those charts that rated covid risk of various activities; playing tennis was 2/10 whereas outdoor dining was a 4/10).

Unfortunately, with the behavior at the Olympics, his continued anti-vax statements and now this, it is really hard for me to continue supporting him, even if he does a lot of great charitable work. These are two separate arenas, just as how well he plays tennis is another separate arena.

I don't know what exactly the situation was with the visa and probably new info will continue to come to light in the next few days. My understanding based on what I've read (someone please correct if wrong) is that entry requirement for Australia is vaxxed OR medical exemption OR 14-day quarantine, and the suspicion is that he doesn't actually meet the criteria for the medical exemption he received. Questions for me would be how the medical exemption was obtained: did Djokovic/his doctors lie, or did some Australian/tennis official bend the rules for him and are now unbending the rules due to public pressure? And if it is true that a 14-day quarantine is an option for entry, why didn't he do that? He arrived 12 days ahead of tournament start, so it really would have just been a matter of a couple extra days.

[Anonymous]

This guy is a total d bag and deserves what he’s he’s getting but thrrr are still 6 players given exemptions and they need to depart as well

[Anonymous]

I'm the "big fan" PP. The exemption was given "blinded" by a medical board, ie they didn't know who was submitting the application. Doubt he cheated as that would really be a stupid and career ending thing to do.

Good question about quarantine, I guess he figured he didn't have to if he was given a medical exemption? He did have a lot of health issues earlier in his career so I can imagine he might have a medical condition he may not want to advertise (heart related perhaps?). It's true that he's also surrounded by a bunch of "alternative" health nuts (in part because the medical establishment failed him when he needed it), so who knows what's going on behind the scenes. Anyway, unvaxxed people should not be at large gatherings during a pandemic. I think that's hard to deny for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loved Nadal's response to the situation (per CNN):

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/tennis/rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-australian-open-spt-intl/index.html

"He made his own decisions, and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences"

"Of course, I don't like the situation that is happening. In some way, I feel sorry for him. But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision."

"It's normal that the people here in Australia get very frustrated with the [Djokovic] case because they have been going through a lot of very hard lockdowns, and a lot of people were not able to come back home.
From my point of view, that's the only thing that I can say is I believe in what the people who know about medicine say, and if the people say that we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine."

I love Rafa!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big fan of his. It's easy to dismiss him and call him a jerk, but if you actually follow his career and actions, especially charitable efforts (including donations for covid wards in spain, italy and serbia, and for medical treatment of children), I'd venture most would change their (negative opinions).

I only watch tennis casually, but I used to have a pretty good opinion of Djokovic for many years. I followed him on social media and saw his charitable work with his foundation, preschools in Serbia, etc. Even when he held the charity tennis tournament in May or June 2020, I gave him the benefit of the doubt as I figured, well, maybe this is a good lesson learned for him. It was also early in the pandemic when one might have reasonably thought that outdoor, no-contact sports like tennis could be played safely (I remember one of those charts that rated covid risk of various activities; playing tennis was 2/10 whereas outdoor dining was a 4/10).

Unfortunately, with the behavior at the Olympics, his continued anti-vax statements and now this, it is really hard for me to continue supporting him, even if he does a lot of great charitable work. These are two separate arenas, just as how well he plays tennis is another separate arena.

I don't know what exactly the situation was with the visa and probably new info will continue to come to light in the next few days. My understanding based on what I've read (someone please correct if wrong) is that entry requirement for Australia is vaxxed OR medical exemption OR 14-day quarantine, and the suspicion is that he doesn't actually meet the criteria for the medical exemption he received. Questions for me would be how the medical exemption was obtained: did Djokovic/his doctors lie, or did some Australian/tennis official bend the rules for him and are now unbending the rules due to public pressure? And if it is true that a 14-day quarantine is an option for entry, why didn't he do that? He arrived 12 days ahead of tournament start, so it really would have just been a matter of a couple extra days.

This is highlighting the different rules in Australia and New Zealand compared to the US and Europe. They relaxed the rules in Australia for citizens recently. As a New Zealander I can't get back into NZ without winning a spot in a quarantine hotel in a lottery, then paying thousands for my family to stay in quarantine. Djokovic got further than I can. I can't even board a plane to NZ even though it is my homeland and even though I have had 3 vaccine doses.

[Anonymous]

How will the d bag quarantine even if he somehow wiggled a his way out of this. His quarantine days would have to reset and the tournament starts in 12 days