The controversy over the medical exemption that would have been granted to Novak Djokovic to participate in the Australian Tennis Open has not subsided, despite the Serbian champion having not received the anti-Covid vaccine.
Even Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison threatened to let the tennis player return "with the first plane" if this exemption was not justified.
"We are waiting for explanations and for you to provide us with supporting evidence" of this waiver, Morrison said at a news conference. "If this evidence is insufficient, then he will not be treated differently from anyone else and will return home with the first plane. There will be no special rules for Novak Djokovic" insisted the premier.
For his part, the director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, has invited the Serbian tennis player to reveal the reason for the medical exemption he holds.
"It would certainly be helpful if Novak explained the conditions under which he applied for and obtained an exemption," Tiley told media. "I encourage him - he added - to talk about it with the community. We have gone through a very difficult period in the last two years and I would appreciate some answers on this".
However, Tiley denied that the number one in the world received preferential treatment to obtain such an exemption, during a process supervised by the Australian authorities and those of the State of Victoria. A total of 26 players or staff members, out of the roughly 3,000 expected in Australia, have applied for an exemption and only a few have obtained it, he explained.
(Unioneonline / lf)