The real Tennis thread.

[Ranagazoo]

The reason for banning Djokovic is not scientific, a guy who had covid 3 weeks ago is far less likely to get infected now than someone vaccinated half a year ago.

The issue is the Aus government have basically been saying for a while that if everyone gets vaccinated then the country will open up - and whether you think they're needed or not, that involves vaccine mandates. So you can't force a nation to get vaccinated in order to enter the country and watch tennis events, and then allow a player to come in unvaxxed. Of course there'll be a huge backlash.

The question is what did he intend to do if he hadn't caught covid? If he wanted to get vaccinated surely he'd have done it as soon as the off season began.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Because there seems to be different rules for celebrities. And Serbia won’t do anything to Djokovic, no matter what he does, whether it’s COVID measures or something totally unrelated.

And where did you get the information that kids are less likely to get sick? Why then were schools shut down and masks necessary when finally opened? What’s the point of vaccines, quarantine measures, distancing, masks, PCR tests if the rules won’t apply to everyone? When I arrived home last in March 2020, when measures were first introduced, I had to stay at home for 4 weeks, and the authorities would call my home every day for those 4 weeks to check on my whereabouts. I didn’t agree with those measures, not do I agree with a lot of the measures being practiced now, but I still have to follow them otherwise I would need to pay a relatively hefty fine.

I blame the Djokovic camp and the Australian government for making a meal out of this.

Kids can still get covid, but they are far less likely to get sick from it and/or die than older people. We have known this for almost two year's.....they have been forced to wear masks to protect the vulnerable (mostly elderly).

There may have been enough reason to enforce that in an unvaccinated society, but surely not now.

 

[BullsFan22]

I really don't know what the point of many of the measures are.

But they're there, and Djokovic will probably also have to pay a fine. But not being allowed to leave the country is probably not the punishment for the offense that he has committed.

And of course Serbia is protecting Djokovic, why shouldn't they? He is a national treasure, borderline royalty, it's a bit silly to assume (or think there's anything wrong with) he would be treated the same way as anybody else.

The mentality in Serbia has always been that ‘everyone is against us,’ and that ‘they hate us because we are Serbs.’ Djokovic and particularly his father take it to a whole other level with that mentality.

And to the second part, of course he is, that has always been the case. The people are more concerned about Djokovic than themselves.

 

[gregrowlerson]

The reason for banning Djokovic is not scientific, a guy who had covid 3 weeks ago is far less likely to get infected now than someone vaccinated half a year ago.

The issue is the Aus government have basically been saying for a while that if everyone gets vaccinated then the country will open up - and whether you think they're needed or not, that involves vaccine mandates. So you can't force a nation to get vaccinated in order to enter the country and watch tennis events, and then allow a player to come in unvaxxed. Of course there'll be a huge backlash.

The question is what did he intend to do if he hadn't caught covid? If he wanted to get vaccinated surely he'd have done it as soon as the off season began.

Very good question. Maybe he deliberately caught it (got to this time period and hung around large unmasked crowds), though even then omnicron only exploded quite recently. I'm quite certain that he's had no plans to get vaccinated.

Being as influential a person as he is, couldn't he just pay a doctor to say he had covid? Is that possible?

 

[BullsFan22]

Kids can still get covid, but they are far less likely to get sick from it and/or die than older people. We have known this for almost two year's.....they have been forced to wear masks to protect the vulnerable (mostly elderly).

There may have been enough reason to enforce that in an unvaccinated society, but surely not now.

The whole point is that this guy thinks he’s above the rules, not just during the pandemic, but throughout his career. In Serbia there are mandates that you have to wear a mask indoors, including public transportation. Not everyone does it, not by a long shot. People here are just doing everything opposite, likely out of spite. Little wonder Djokovic gets the support he does here during this circus.

 

[BullsFan22]

The reason for banning Djokovic is not scientific, a guy who had covid 3 weeks ago is far less likely to get infected now than someone vaccinated half a year ago.

The issue is the Aus government have basically been saying for a while that if everyone gets vaccinated then the country will open up - and whether you think they're needed or not, that involves vaccine mandates. So you can't force a nation to get vaccinated in order to enter the country and watch tennis events, and then allow a player to come in unvaxxed. Of course there'll be a huge backlash.

The question is what did he intend to do if he hadn't caught covid? If he wanted to get vaccinated surely he'd have done it as soon as the off season began.

Djokovic has had COVID twice now, first during the Adria tour in 2020, and now last month. You can get infected with COVID more than once, just like a common cold.

 

[yaco]

I hope the Australian Government cuts its losses and accepts the decision of the court - Australians have provided an unwelcoming environment for the Australian Open in the last two years, in contrast to the warmer welcome given at the other grand slams - Good on the Serbian Government for supporting their citizens - Other countries could take heed.

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

I hope the Australian Government cuts its losses and accepts the decision of the court - Australians have provided an unwelcoming environment for the Australian Open in the last two years, in contrast to the warmer welcome given at the other grand slams - Good on the Serbian Government for supporting their citizens - Other countries could take heed.

Or get vaccinated and accept the rules in the country your playing in. There should be no exception for him, even with having Covid lately.

 

[BullsFan22]

I hope the Australian Government cuts its losses and accepts the decision of the court - Australians have provided an unwelcoming environment for the Australian Open in the last two years, in contrast to the warmer welcome given at the other grand slams - Good on the Serbian Government for supporting their citizens - Other countries could take heed.

The Serbian government should support its citizens by improving the wages of its workers and improve the conditions of the work space. Little wonder why people are moving to greener pastures.

 

[hrotha]

And of course Serbia is protecting Djokovic, why shouldn't they? He is a national treasure, borderline royalty, it's a bit silly to assume (or think there's anything wrong with) he would be treated the same way as anybody else.

This is repugnant.

 

[tobydawq]

This is repugnant.

Why?

 

[Cookster15]

Or get vaccinated and accept the rules in the country your playing in. There should be no exception for him, even with having Covid lately.

A judge has ruled Djokovic provided the needed evidence that he has caught Covid previously so is exempt from vaccination as stated to him by Tennis Australia.

 

[BigCoward]

A judge has ruled Djokovic provided the needed evidence that he has caught Covid previously so is exempt from vaccination as stated to him by Tennis Australia.

Anyone who believes there was no plan to defend his title until 16th Dec when he conveniently caught the virus is living in cloud cuckoo land.
He never had it on the 16th, he's got doctored papers. If he did why was he all over the place without isolating?
He also can't be trusted since he has clearly lied on his papers when he says he wasn't travelling for 2 weeks beforehand when there is overwhelming evidence when he was. He's an absolute scumbag And I don't beleive a word the nut job says.

 

[movingtarget]

Anyone who believes there was no plan to defend his title until 16th Dec when he conveniently caught the virus is living in cloud cuckoo land.
He never had it on the 16th, he's got doctored papers. If he did why was he all over the place without isolating?
He also can't be trusted since he has clearly lied on his papers when he says he wasn't travelling for 2 weeks beforehand when there is overwhelming evidence when he was. He's an absolute scumbag And I don't beleive a word the nut job says.

He made so called errors on his declaration forms and has now blamed his agent, didn't isolate when positive and a part of the visa application is a the good character test which he has clearly failed. If it was me or joe bloggs we would already be on the plane out............

 

[gregrowlerson]

And Novak hardly ever makes unforced errors, at least on the court.

I think there's a real good A Few Good Men parody to do here, with Djokovic as Kernel Jessup, and Caffey catches him out with the "I never make unforced errors" ("ignore the order?") contradiction with the declaration form.

 

[BullsFan22]

This is hardly shocking, it’s easy to get a doctors note for days off work, in fact I was personally encouraged by a supervisor to do so, as some of my other options would take more time to process.

 

[hrotha]

Why?

Why is it a bad thing to give extra privileges to the rich and powerful, contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the law?

 

[yaco]

The minister will need 'hard evidence to revoke Djokovic's visa on character grounds - It can't just be the vibe or a feeling.

- Incorrectly filling in a travel declaration form is not here nor there, especially when TA hired charter planes to bring players to the Oz Open, so players would have travelled to a third country to catch their planes OR most of the flights would have a stopover because of the distance covered - Do we think every player correctly filled in their form ?

- Isolating after testing positive to COVID is not a hanging offence. I doubt every player who has tested positive to COVID has always followed the protocols - Take it a step further and apply these rules to normal citizens who has broken COVID protocols or broken lockdown, and then MANY would be denied entry to a country.

- The minister's best chance is to prove that Djokovic's positive COVID test is fraudalent , which is easier said then done.

Of course we come to the 'Elephant in the room'. Do we really think that every players/officials VAXXED documents are legitimate ? I'll also add that I am extremely confident that there would be one or two entered the country for sporting events or the like that would be unvaccinated which has been let through to the keeper.

Australia has done itself no favors with its antiquated entry requirements for visitors who are competing in special events - The worst thing is that there is no scientific/medical evidence in the current evolution of the COVID virus to support this policy.

 

[movingtarget]

At least he's consistent, when he was supposed to be in lockdown before the first time he tested positive he was partying with his buddies.............

 

[BigCoward]

Australian news presenters caught calling Novak Djokovic a ‘lying, sneaky a***hole’ in off-air viral video.

Hot mic, just saying what most intelligent peiple are thinking.

 

[gregrowlerson]

He's out.

Incredible.

 

[gregrowlerson]

3 year ban also, meaning if that holds up, that Novak is out of 2023 & 2024 Aus Opens also.

 

[yaco]

The Government's case is that Djokovic will fire up the anti-vax movement - I hope the Government has evidence of Djokovic supporting anti-vax protests or even funding these protests or the like - The organisation that lead to the proliferation of ant-vax movements through its extended lockdowns and mandating vaccinations is the Federal Government - Government's often blame others for their incompetence.

 

[tobydawq]

Meanwhile, Andy Murray has reached the final in Australia.

I seem to have seen that before.

 

[tobydawq]

Netflix have announced that they will produce a Drive to Survive like series for tennis. That sounds awesome.

Cycling next, please.