Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has claimed Novak Djokovic must be vaccinated to play at next year’s Australian Open
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews claims the Australian Open has been a ‘great success’ without Novak Djokovic and says the world number one could only return to the tournament if he gets vaccinated.
Djokovic lost his standoff with the Australian federal authorities when they canceled his visa for a second time and removed him from the country earlier this month, despite the Serbian ace arriving with a medical exemption to defend his title in Melbourne.
Djokovic’s deportation, which came after the personal intervention of Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, means the nine-time Australian Open champion could face a three-year ban on re-entering the country.
But when asked over the weekend if he could foresee Djokovic returning to Melbourne Park in 2023, Australian Open director Craig Tiley replied “yes”.
“Obviously I think he’s got to play out this year but that will be his intention,” added Tiley, who has come in for significant criticism for his role in the debacle.
“At the end of the day he’s the number one player in the world and he loves the Australian Open.”
“(But) it’s really important to note that … there’s no one person, there’s no organization that is bigger than the event itself.”
