After the announcement of the number one in world tennis to play the next Open, it did not take long for the alarms to go off, mainly in Melbourne.
Serbian Novak Djokovic, first classified in the ATP, announced on Tuesday on social networks that he was about to get on the plane with which he would go to Australia to prepare the first major Open of the season, after receiving the medical exemption that allows you to enter the oceanic country without being vaccinated.
It didn’t take long for the alarms to go off mainly in Melbourne, the city that suffered the longest confinement in the world, as well as throughout the country, since Australia has been one of the nations that imposed the most restrictions on its borders.
The tournament director, Craig Tiley, again explained the decision made to a local network. “For tennis players it is an even more dense process than for anyone else, because they have to submit to the scrutiny of one more committee, which evaluates the applications without considering the applicant and then grants exemptions when deemed necessary”, He commented to the Australian television channel Nine.
Tiley, who has been in the center of the target this Wednesday by much of Australian society after the news, encouraged the Serbian to make public the reason why he has been granted the medical exemption in order to calm the storm generated.
Reactions
Scottish tennis player Jamie Murray commented at a press conference after his last ATP Cup clash with Great Britain that if he had been the one who had been applied for an exemption for not having been vaccinated, he would not have received it.
The Australian tennis players in charge of representing the host country in the ATP Cup in the singles, Alex De Miñaur and James Duckworth, They gave a sarcastic smile when asked about the question at a press conference after their loss to Germany.
“I just think it’s very interesting, it’s the only thing I’m going to say about it,” said De Miñaur, while his compatriot Duckworth explained that if the Serb met the requirements to obtain the exemption, then he should be able to enter the country.
De Miñaur joked about the tone so “politically correct” that his partner adopted and both concluded with a laugh.
Also joined in the criticism was Kevin Bartlett, Australian football legend, after claiming that the Australian people had been taken for a fool after all that has happened.
Not only in Australia, Toni Nadal joined the criticism from Spain after publishing a column in the newspaper The country Alluding to this controversy.
“There are almost six million people who have lost their lives due to this damn virus and many other millions who have received the vaccine. I want to think that Novak is no stranger to all this and that he will clear up doubts as a sign of human sensitivity and understanding.”Explained the one who was the coach of his greatest rival Rafael Nadal. (D)
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