Djokovic saga puts the focus on exemptions
- Canberra has only itself to blame for allowing unvaccinated tennis champion to fly into the country, then locking him up in quarantine and threatening him with deportation ahead of the Australian Open
Djokovic, a well-known anti-vaxxer, has been quarantined since border officials cancelled his visa because they rejected a medical exemption from the requirement of double vaccination. Serbia has demanded his release. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejects an accusation of harassment and says, rightly, no one is above rules to protect public health against the pandemic.
Djokovic readies Covid-19 vaccine exemption case for Australia visa showdown
The question is how Djokovic came to be issued with a visa in the first place. He apparently claimed exemption on the basis he had been infected with the virus within the past six months. Two expert panels advising the Victorian state government and Tennis Australia, who want Djokovic to play, found he should receive an exemption. But that conflicted with two letters to Tennis Australia from senior federal health officials making it clear unvaccinated people infected within the past six months would not get quarantine-free entry.
That advice prevailed at the border. Whatever the outcome on Monday, Australia is unlikely to come out of this looking good. The idea that an exemption for health reasons would be given to an athletic, rich celebrity, or of a double standard, provoked public outrage because it mocked the sacrifices and suffering of so many during the pandemic. That said, Djokovic deserves some sympathy for being caught up in a bureaucratic mix-up.
Djokovic has a reputation for fighting back from adversity to win on the tennis court, for example after taking a health and safety break allowed under the rules for injury or illness, to the irritation of opponents who were winning until that interruption. Now he is fighting detention and deportation under a different health rule.
