Victoria's sports minister counters Srdjan Djokovic: "It's not about blackmail, it's about protecting the population"
Victoria State Sports Minister Martin Pakula counters Srdjan Djokovic's allegations. This has accused the organizers of the Australian Open of blackmailing his son Novak with compulsory vaccination.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Dec 01, 2021, 08:02 pm
If you talk about the compulsory vaccination, which will come into effect at the Australian Open in 2022, the name Novak Djokovic is not far. The Serb, nine-time champion down under, is questionable for the first major of the year. Recently, Djokovic kept a low profile on his vaccination status, but in the past the world number one has repeatedly been critical of vaccinations. Most recently, father Srdjan also spoke up and did not spare criticism of the organizers. The player's father even accused those responsible in Australia of blackmailing his son.
While it is uncertain what these statements mean for the industry leader Down Under, those responsible in Australia have now commented on the allegations. "It's not about blackmail, it's about protecting the community and adhering to the prescribed norms," said Victoria State Sports Minister Martin Pakula. "I want to make it clear that I would like Djokovic to compete, but if he decides not to compete because he does not want to be vaccinated, that is his sole responsibility."
Community commitments
Minister of Sport Pakula also took the opportunity to reiterate the legitimacy of this measure: "As an international tennis player and top athlete, you have to adhere to the rules that apply to everyone and respect the community that welcomes you. We therefore ask the players to contact the the same rules as the people of Victoria. "
Meanwhile, the tournament director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, announced that 85 percent of the players had already been vaccinated for the first major of the calendar year 2022. Ascending trend. Tiley is convinced that this can be attributed to a not insignificant extent to the mandatory vaccination that has been introduced. However, it remains to be seen whether this will keep the serial winners away from Australia at the same time.