Australia will require Djokovic to prove that he cannot be vaccinated
The world's number one tennis player, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who has obtained a medical exemption to be able to participate in the Australian Open, you will have to justify that you cannot be vaccinated against Covid-19The Australian Home Secretary said on Wednesday, Karen andrews.
"While the (regional) Government of Victoria and Tennis Australia may allow an unvaccinated player to compete in the Australian Open, it is the Australian Government that will enforce our requirements on the Australian border, "Andrews said in a statement.
Djokovic announced Tuesday that he will defend his Australian Open title in Melbourne, between January 17 and 30, after receiving a medical exemption, as he was not vaccinated against Covid.
"Anyone who wants to enter Australia must comply with our strict border requirements," Andrews emphasized, recalling that those who have not received the full schedule of the Covid-19 vaccine must prove to the authorities that they cannot receive this drug for medical reasons thereby avoiding 14-day quarantines.
But the minister did not clarify what will happen if Djokovic - whose medical reasons are unknown - does not meet the requirements passing customs, limiting himself to saying that "quarantines of international travelers in Victoria, including people who have not been vaccinated, are a matter for the Victorian Government."
After the announcement of the tennis player, eThe regional government of Victoria and Tennis Australia assured that they did not give special treatment to Djokovic, in the midst of great unrest among the inhabitants of Melbourne, the city that accumulates more days under strict isolation during the pandemic, and the rest of this country in which harsh measures were implemented to stop the pandemic.
Previously, both the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott morrison, and other authorities had declared that all tennis players and members of their team who participated in the tournament should be vaccinated with the full drug regimen.
However, Morrison, who is facing a crisis in his country due to the rebound in Covid-19, told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday that the exemption is "a matter of the Victorian government", by avoiding pronouncing on the controversy.
The Australian Open, which in the last edition put tennis players under a two-week quarantine, is held amid a crisis in the oceanic country due to the increase in infections, which passed from almost 212,000 accumulated cases on December 1, to over half a million this week.
