By Tim Parsons-
World No 1 Novak Djokovic is to be excluded from this year’s US Open , given his refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion who lost his last tournament at the French opens after losing to Rafaal Nadal, will be prohibited from entering America, after the U.S insisted on proof of vaccination for those wanting to enter America.
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Djokavic was booted out of Australia a day before the tournament at Melbourne Park began in January this year, after immigration minister Alex Hawke used his discretionary powers to cancel his visa.
Although the U.S. Open will allow tennis players from Russia and Belarus to compete in the 2022 tournament in New York City later this year, there will be no compromise when it comes to allowing Djokavic in. The tennis ace has made it clear he would not compete in any country that requires him to be vaccinated.
Djokavic attracted plenty of critics during his last visit to Australia, after it was revealed that he had gone to see a journalist despite testing positive for Covid-19.
Djokovic was also pictured at a PR event with dozens of children the day after his lawyers said he tested positive for Covid-19. He had attended three separate events in his native Serbia across December 16 and 17.
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A day later, he attended an award ceremony at the Tennis Association of Belgrade where he was pictured hugging children.
The revelation greatly annoyed many of the Australian public, who rejoiced at his eventual deportation from the country. A number of Djokavic’s critics lined up to criticize the tennis star openly for his refusal to be vaccinated.
In April , former no 1 tennis world champion Marcello Rios, referred to Djokavic as the king of stupidity for his insistence on not being vaccinated, but was challenged by this publication for his rude interference and open rebuke on his fellow tennis star.
Russian Players Welcome
Although the U.S. authorities have barred Djokavic from entering the country, they have announced that Russian and Belarusian players will have be able to compete in the tournament under a neutral flag.
The United States Tennis Association are not expected to follow in Wimbledon’s approach and ban Russian and Belarussian players from competing in New York.
The report also claims unlike the UK Government’s desire to avoid Russian victories at SW19, there was no instruction from their US counterparts to limit Russian participation.
A USTA board meeting reportedly heard arguments in favour of following in Wimbledon’s footsteps of a Russia ban, but the stance of the ATP and WTA appears towards the All-England Club is said to have been a factor in their decision to allow Russians to compete.
Vaccination has been a very controversial topic world wide, with very strong views on both sides of the equation. Those strongly in favour have expressed views of selfishness by those against, whilst those against have highlighted the fact that people who are double vaccinated have still been hospitalized, thereby questioning what the fuss is all about.
The official line from most governments is that being vaccinated reduces the chances of being infected by Covid, and for those who still become infected, it reduces the chances of dying.
Critics of this position, say the claims are unreliable because there is insufficient evidence to show that those who survive hospitalization do so because they have had the jab.
Britain last year introduced vaccination as a requirement to enter crowded places like bars and clubs, but the law was dropped following the revelation of the partygate scandal.
This led many people to conclude that the whole idea was a farce, with many critics later also using the scandal to arrive at the conclusion the law breakers in Downing Street never believed the virus was serious enough for lockdowns, otherwise they would not have been partying so closely and regularly in the first place.
Some observers have also pointed out that the different laws for vaccination in different countries confirms the unreliability of its necessity.
However, the issue with Djokavic is beyond vaccination requirement, and more with public anger about his general attitude to consideration of the risks of passing the covid virus to others.
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