..............errr, I wonder if he's in his Park Hotel room now smashing all his (expensive) tennis rackets up........?
Spoiler
Oh to be a fly on the wall..................
It's just not cricket to kick a man when he is down and out, but it can be fun.
He's such a wonderful athlete, superb tennis player... but this doesn't mean he is more entitled than any other person with regard to gaining entry to Australia in defiance of Home Affair's clear instructions.
Tennis Australia has to bear a lot of responsibility for this debacle.
But the kernel of the problem is that Novak Djokovic was not vaccinated.
He's been playing coy about not revealing his vaccination status - which was a red flag that he was anti-vaccination but didn't want to say so, but it could also have meant he was vaccinated and didn't want to put off anti-vaccination fans of his. The whole "will he, won't he be playing in the Australian Open" in the lead-up to his deciding to enter is, in retrospect, bewildering. He could only have gained entry if he were fully vaccinated or had a legitimate medical exemption. I know he was issued the subclass 408 visa, but he'd have known that he couldn't enter Australia without a medical exemption. There were no grounds for a medical exemption, hence he'd have had to be fully vaccinated. It now turns out that he was not vaccinated, and there was really not enough time for him to be vaccinated fully before coming here (given the need to wait between doses - unless he opted for the single-dose J&J, which is just not likely as Pfizer or Moderna are preferred, especially against Omicron... and let's not forget that at least 7 days must have elapsed since the final dose in order to be considered "fully vaccinated"), so we're left with a conundrum. At the time, it appears that he (and Tennis Australia) thought there was a loophole. Did he really try to become infected again just in time to attempt to gain entry based upon having recently recovered from COVID-19?
But by 29th November, Greg Hunt carefully and explicitly informed Tennis Australia (directly to Tiley) - in writing - that previous COVID-19 infection wouldn't count as a medical exemption for tennis players wanting to enter Australia to compete in the Australian Open. Well! So Tennis Australia knew at that stage. This now begs the question... Did TO inform Novak Djokovic?
The Dept of Health website outlines just how strict the requirements are for claiming medical exemption from a COVID-19 vaccination. On the Home Affairs website, it's specifically stated "The Australian Department of Health advises that previous infection with COVID-19 is not considered a medical contraindication for COVID-19 vaccination."
So... it's possible that Djokovic was uncertain about the situation. I am sceptical, because the visa was obtained before he obtained the visa earlier in November (on the 18th), before getting his latest well-timed bout of COVID-19. Then on 20 November, Tiley publicly confirmed that tennis players had to be vaccinated in order to take part in the Austr.... Not only that, but he said
❝We have been speaking to Novak Djokovic's team and Novak and the team understand clearly that in order to come and play the Australian Open they'll need to be fully vaccinated.❞
On what grounds did Novak Djokovic plan, then, to claim medical exemption? I'm going back to the "loophole" idea. Somehow, in spite of the federal government being unambiguous about requirement for full vaccination or for a (rare) medical exemption, Novak and TO (and even the Victorian Government) seemed to be trying to find a way around.
As ludicrous as that sounds, that seems to me to be the only logical conclusion - unless Djokovic was simply toying with the tennis world, actually not planning on (or able to) compete in the Australian Open but refusing to say so until the last moment. I cannot see that second possibility being likely; whatever else he is, Djokovic is dedicated to winning that Grand Slam title. He is very ambitious, and with his talent he had every possibility of adding the tournament title to his already incredibly impressive array.
So... I conclude that he wanted to enter Australia in order to play in the Australia Open and win that title, but he was determined not to be vaccinated. I conclude that he did the equivalent of partaking in a COVID Party, exposing himself to situations where there were people who had tested positive to COVID-19, most probably to those who'd had genomic sequencing done to determine that they had Omicron. He would have timed it very carefully, so that he had enough time to be cleared of infection, and still be within the timeframe of "recent". I further conclude that Craig Tiley / Tennis Australia were aware of this convoluted situation and in fact facilitated Djokovic's determination to avoid being vaccinated but somehow still enter Australia and compete in the tournament. Not only that, but given that the Victorian government also had "health experts" participate in the assessment for granting Djokovic a medical exemption (as well as Tennis Australia "health experts"), and that this took place on 30th December, I conclude that the Victorian government was privy to these shenanigans.
I conclude that the medical exemption given was not according to the Department of Health's outline for what constituted a medical exemption against COVID-19 vaccination.
I conclude that Novak Djokovic, in concert with Tennis Australia, colluded to disrespect and disregard Australia's requirements for entry. It's also impossible for me to avoid concluding that the Victorian government was in cahoots (perhaps reluctantly, fearing the scandalous fall-out from this mess) with TO and Djokovic. I don't buy their distancing themselves from the situation.
Should the visa subclass 408 even have been granted back on 18th November? That's a question for the Department of Home Affairs to answer. If "medical exemption" was being stated on the application at the time, it may have been appropriate to issue the visa with the proviso that Australian Border Force would have to be satisfied that a medical exemption was granted.
Should Novak Djokovic have even been permitted to enter the country? Another difficult question... If his people were waving about the medical exemption, it's hard to see how he could appropriately be prevented from entering. The question then becomes about that medical exemption having been given with... let's face it... almost certainly some manipulation to facilite the world number 1 tennis player.
Should his visa have been cancelled on the grounds that the medical exemption did not meet the requirements for such exemption being granted in respect of entering the country on a visa subclass 408? In my opinion - yes.
All of this was incredibly messy, and it looked like a complete circus. It gives that appearance because TO and the Victorian government provided a medical exemption in defiance of the federal government's requirements about what constituted reason for such a medical exemption. The federal government had to step in and look like shemozzled bullies - when what they were doing was enforcing the entry requirements.
But it's damaged Australia's reputation internationally.
Oh, and let's not forget that Novak Djokovic lied on the official border entry form about whether he had travelled in the two weeks before entering Australia. Social media posts including photos were considerable evidence that he'd not been honest, and while he initially refused to comment, he ended up admitting that he had travelled. (Government officials interviewed at least one person in respect of that, so it would have been stupid for Djokovic to stonewall or lie any further.) Apparently it was an "administrative error". (And I'm a supernova sandwich.)
I'm sorry that Djokovic has done this. He would have been so welcome as a player here if he'd entered in an above-board fashion, vaccinated and ready to be a good example to the global tennis community without whom he would not be a mega-rich adored athlete superstar. I don't know if he'll be barred from entering Australia for 3 years... but I can't help seeing that he's acted deliberately in attempting to circumvent our border controls. Perhaps he can be given a break, but it's hard to know on what grounds.
What a horrible mess. Novak Djokovic was prepared to shoot himself in the foot but not to get a jab in the upper arm.
Such a shame.
@rogespeed wrote:Can appeal to common sense in the form of if he is tested for covid anti-bodies and found to be now naturally immune then there is no grounds to deny entry into the Commonwealth , as would clearly pose not threat to anyone
Are you for real.........................
His very high-priced lawyers tried that argument and they were laughed out of court.
Maybe you should jump on a plane to Dubai and offer the clown your services...................
