The people have spoken and the PM listened

MARK down December 9, 2021 as the beginning of the end of Novak Djokovic's Australian Open title defence. That was the summer day when Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, after months of steadfastly insisting all players must be fully vaccinated to contest the 2022 Open, delivered a stunning about–face. It was the day that Andrews ceded control over Djokovic's fate to a third party which ultimately cruelled the world No.1. At the time, Andrews and Tennis Australia moving to have an independent panel established to preside over requests for medical exemptions against having the COVID–19 jab appeared to be a reprieve for the vaccination–hesitant Serb. In hindsight, it spelt doom for Djokovic. "It is important that if Tennis Australia do move to a situation where they want to check the bona fides of any exemption – and I'm not talking about any individual – anyone who has an exemption, then that's an appropriate safeguard," Andrews told reporters in Melbourne. "Everyone sitting on centre court (at Melbourne Park) will have to be double jabbed. Out of fairness to them, out of respect for so many Victorians, (with what) the vast majority of Victorians have done, we have to have confidence in these arrangements. "Tennis Australia have a role in protecting the integrity of these arrangements." While far from blameless for his own role in the shambolic predicament he finds himself in, Djokovic risks becoming collateral damage as government leaders fight to save face. Had Andrews, his Victorian government and health officials stayed the course and demanded all players be fully vaccinated to compete at Melbourne Park, Djokovic's options were clear. He could either have got jabbed or stuck to his principles and stayed home in Belgrade to polish his 20 grand slam trophies. But TA boss Craig Tiley convincing Andrews that an independent panel comprising doctors from the fields of immunology, infectious disease and general practice should be set up to consider medical exemption requests was always fraught with disaster for all concerned. It's understood Team Djokovic had exemption applications – based on him previously being infected with COVID–19 – denied on several occasions before the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) and the independent panel finally ticked off on one earlier this week. Unfortunately for Djokovic, though, the public backlash to his exemption was so deafening it reverberated all the way to the Prime Minister's office in Canberra. Furious citizens of the world's most–locked down city weren't the only ones not prepared to cop special treatment for a tennis player as social media and talkback radio lit up with rage. The people spoke and the PM listened. Scott Morrison stepped in late on Wednesday and demanded Djokovic have a genuine medical reason for obtaining his exemption upon his arrival to Melbourne. Otherwise he'd be "on the next plane home", Morrison said. He wasn't bluffing. The matter now likely rests with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, if Djokovic pushes ahead with an injunction to prevent his deportation. The world No.1 has a long history of stretching the boundaries. He was hit with a $30,000 fine for touching the chair umpire during his explosive 2020 Australian Open final win over Dominic Thiem. Later that year he was defaulted for striking a ball recklessly into the throat of a lineswoman at the 2020 US Open in New York. Djokovic could have been booted out of the Tokyo Olympics for hurling a racquet into the stands and another into a net post during his bronze–medal playoff loss to Pablo Carreno Busta. He escaped sanctioning, but not COVID–19, for carelessly partying shirtless with other players on stage after irresponsibly hosting an exhibition event in Croatia during the pandemic in 2020, sparking a coronavirus outbreak in the ATP ranks. This time, it appears Djokovic has pushed the boundary too far. – AAP

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