Australian Open: No visas for unvaccinated tennis players, confirms official

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has indicated that unvaccinated tennis players that will be travelling for the Australian Open in January 2022 might not be granted visas. Novak Djokovic is one of the few tennis stars who are yet to get inoculated against COVID. While it has not been an issue so far, Australia has strict COVID-19 regulations and laws that deny entry for people who have not been vaccinated, therefore Djokovic might have to reconsider his stance on the vaccine ahead of the Australian Open.

Andrews told a media briefing, "I don't think an unvaccinated tennis player is going to get a visa to come into this country and if they did get a visa they'd probably have to quarantine for a couple of weeks. I don't think that the person you indicated (Djokovic) or any other tennis player, let's not personalise it ... or golfer or Formula One driver will even get a visa to get here. If I'm wrong I'm sure the federal government will let you know. (The virus) doesn't care what your tennis ranking is, or how many Grand Slams you've won. It's completely irrelevant. You need to be vaccinated to keep yourself safe and to keep others safe."

Djokovic unwilling to reveal vaccination status

The reigning world No. 1 men's singles tennis player has refrained from revealing whether he has been vaccinated against COVID-19 and mentioned that he is unsure of defending his Australian Open title in Melbourne come January. "Things beings as they are, I still don’t know if I will go to Melbourne. I will not reveal my status whether I have been vaccinated or not, it is a private matter and an inappropriate inquiry. People go too far these days in taking the liberty to ask questions and judge a person. Whatever you say ‘yes, no, maybe, I am thinking about it,’ they will take advantage", said Novak Djokovic as quoted by the online edition of Serbian daily Blic.

Andy Roddick has also warned Novak Djokovic and his fellow peers that are against the COVID-19 jab, saying that they need to reconsider their stance as the Australian Open is not that far away and it takes over a month to be considered fully vaccinated. So they will need to start getting vaccinated now in order to play in Melbourne in January.

(Image: AP)