Special treatment for Novak Djokovic

See update for January 14, 2022 at end of post.


Residents in Melbourne, Australia, endured a lot, being in some ways more sensible than most, with a 262-day long lockdown,[1] but now here comes an anti-vaccination, indeed, anti-COVID-19 mitigation, unvaccinated Serbian tennis star who somehow—we don’t know how—gained a medical exemption to COVID-19 vaccination requirements,[2] but apparently with, ahem, misstated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results,[3] so he can play in a tournament. Initially he was granted a visa, which was revoked at the border upon his arrival, then reinstated by a court on procedural grounds.[4] But it turns out the star wasn’t completely accurate in the paperwork, undermining his visa application and the visa can still be revoked at the ministerial level—subject again to judicial review.[5]

Part of the problem is that Australia is, after having made those sacrifices, now enduring an Omicron surge with no end in sight and politicians too reluctant to reimpose draconian measures.[6] Another part is that the unvaccinated tennis star traveled when he wasn’t supposed to have traveled, did not isolate when he was supposed to have isolated.[7] Another part is that officials backtracked from requiring all players be vaccinated, all apparently on account of this one anti-vaccination, indeed, anti-COVID-19 mitigation, unvaccinated tennis star, provoking fury from the long-suffering folks in Melbourne, leaving the editorial writers at The Age arguing they should be nice to him anyway, apparently only because he’s such a great tennis star.[8] We do like our special treatment, don’t we?


Update, January 14, 2022: Australia has canceled Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time.[9]

  1. [1]Kristin Gelineau, “Amid Djokovic backlash, Australia grapples with omicron wave,” Associated Press, January 12, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-novak-djokovic-sports-health-sydney-37b896e43f91a051990606ef7a963a76
  2. [2]Age, “Djokovic’s views are wrong, but he shouldn’t be booed,” January 5, 2022, https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/djokovic-s-views-are-wrong-but-he-shouldn-t-be-booed-20220105-p59lzr.html
  3. [3]Max Hoppenstedt and Jörn Meyn, “Were the Results of a Positive PCR Test Manipulated?” Spiegel, January 11, 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/novak-djokovic-were-the-results-of-his-positive-pcr-test-manipulated-a-cf3e7344-e98f-4fc3-8bb3-7727d4795e97
  4. [4]Michael E. Miller, “Novak Djokovic wins case against Australia over canceled visa, clearing path for him to play in Melbourne,” Washington Post, January 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/09/novak-djokovic-australia-court-visa/
  5. [5]Max Hoppenstedt and Jörn Meyn, “Were the Results of a Positive PCR Test Manipulated?” Spiegel, January 11, 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/novak-djokovic-were-the-results-of-his-positive-pcr-test-manipulated-a-cf3e7344-e98f-4fc3-8bb3-7727d4795e97; Jon Pye and Rod McGuirk, “Djokovic: Not isolating after COVID infection was ‘error,’” Associated Press, January 12, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-coronavirus-pandemic-novak-djokovic-sports-health-591c103de643abc147b0fb7e2703afc2
  6. [6]Kristin Gelineau, “Amid Djokovic backlash, Australia grapples with omicron wave,” Associated Press, January 12, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-novak-djokovic-sports-health-sydney-37b896e43f91a051990606ef7a963a76
  7. [7]Jon Pye and Rod McGuirk, “Djokovic: Not isolating after COVID infection was ‘error,’” Associated Press, January 12, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-coronavirus-pandemic-novak-djokovic-sports-health-591c103de643abc147b0fb7e2703afc2
  8. [8]Age, “Djokovic’s views are wrong, but he shouldn’t be booed,” January 5, 2022, https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/djokovic-s-views-are-wrong-but-he-shouldn-t-be-booed-20220105-p59lzr.html
  9. [9]Michael E. Miller, “Australia cancels Novak Djokovic’s visa again, plans to re-detain him ahead of court battle,” Washington Post, January 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/14/novak-djokovic-australia-visa/

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.