2022 In Between Grand Slam Thread

The Djokovic issue is getting farcical. The published exemptions are very strict, its hard to imagine any professional tennis player who played a full season last year actually qualifying under any of them.

If Djokovic qualifies I really hope it isn't via a trick-of-the-loop, but the 'protracted' negotiations around it do look suspect. I presume they are giving him 'every chance'.

I'm annoyed. I've nothing against people choosing to not get a vaccine, everyone is entitled to decide for themselves.

I'm more annoyed at the organisers for giving him a medical exemption. Djokovic is a guy that is clearly anti-vax, the medical angle is completely disingenuous. I've nothing against them letting him play, but drop the medical exemption bs. Just come out and say that vaccinations are no longer a requirement.

without wanting to turn this into a vax thread, we need to be clear on the facts. Djokovic is on record as being opposed to vaccination in principle, a position he backed-up a couple of times, and this is several months ago and a long time before Omicron. He has in the past few months reverted to comments such as it being a 'personal preference' and stopped offering an opinion on vaccinations, which is a better look.

There's no doubting his conviction on the matter - this is a guy who delayed career-prolonging surgery on his elbow for far too long as he is also against invasive procedures such as surgery (vaccines fall into a similar category, I presume) and believes in the bodies ability to heal itself.

He is free to believe whatever he wants - his conviction has brought him a long way in his chosen field - but some of his ideas would be frankly dangerous if widely adapted. I cant see how he wouldn't be seen as anti-vax. a lot of professional sportspeople are

anyway, topic for another thread, I will stick to tennis from now on.

It doesn't matter whether or not people call Djokovic "anti-vax". What matters here is this farce of a statement by Craig Tiley, the tournament director.

He said: "Everyone who is coming in is vaccinated and there will be a small percentage - a very small percentage - that will have a medical exemption. So, if any player, fan or workforce is on site here, you're either vaccinated or you have a medical exemption that's approved and you're on the Australian Immunisation Register. That provides us with safety and an extra level of comfort on site. If Novak shows up at the Australian Open, he'll either be vaccinated or he'll have a medical exemption. It's his choice on his medical condition, it's his choice to keep it personal and private like all of us would do with any condition we may or may not have. We are not going to force him or ask him to disclose that."

Clearly the tournament are desperate to accommodate the most successful player in this Open, so that they will allow a player, who may or may not have a condition that exempts them, to play. Clearly they think he's such box office the tournament couldn't go on without him.

Regarding the NFL and NBA - these players are US based and not travelling into other countries, that have specific rules in place around Covid19 and how that impact you coming into the country, so I don't think that's a fair comparison. Melbourne, where the Open is played, is the most "locked down" city on Earth and the decision just looks wrong on so many levels. Back down, climb down, let down.

The issue here is not with Djokovic, but with Australia Tennis itself.

All Novak has done is applied "for exemptions anonymously using an application form, which is different to the application standard members of the public use." and they have bent over backwards to accommodate him.

Tournament director Craig Tiley confirmed a number of players had been granted exemptions, without naming Djokovic, while explaining the process involved. "There are two medical panels that assess any application, and they assess it in a blind way. They don't know who the applicant is. Against the ATAGI [Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation] guidelines, an exemption gets granted or not. The reason for granting that exemption remains private, between the panel and the applicant." He said on Tuesday there had to have been a "genuine reason" to grant an exemption.

Yet to find out if any were not granted but AT are being asked.

If I have a different understanding of what 'anti vax' means that you, fair enough. Djokovic is anti taking a vaccine, which I put in the 'anti vax' category. He doesn't have to be vigorously agitating on social media for me to assign him to that category. If you feel that doesn't count, ok, lets move on.

Last April falls within my definition of 'several months ago'. I may have lost a year to covid however, as his first publicly stated aversion to vaccines was in fact in April 2020 in facebook broadcast

He has been pretty much 'live and let live' in his comments since then while, clearly, not having gotten a vaccine in the meantime.

Djokovic expressed his opposition to the Covid-19 vaccine in April 2020 when it was suggested they might be obligatory so tournament play could resume.

"Personally I am not pro-vaccines," said Djokovic.