Novax - the drama queen

[tennisluvrredux]

Opinion: If Novak Djokovic can’t play the Australian Open, he has no one but himself to blame

 

Novak Djokovic takes a break from practice on Friday ahead of the Australian Open. He's unlikely to play as the Australian government revoked his visa on Friday. (Diego Fedele/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

By Max Boot

Columnist

Today at 2:25 p.m. EST

 

This column has been updated.

Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world, has won 20 Grand Slam tournaments — a record he shares with his fellow greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He had a perfect opportunity to separate himself from his rivals this month by winning a record 21st Slam at the Australian Open, where he has already been the champion nine times. It now looks like that won’t happen — and Djokovic, however much he might wail and rage, has no one but himself to blame. He likely double-faulted his own way out the tournament.

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Unlike 97 percent of his peers on the men’s tennis tour, Djokovic refuses to be vaccinated because he is in thrall to wacky New Age ideas about health. But he tried to game the system so that he could play the Australian Open anyway. He claimed to be eligible for an exemption from the vaccination requirement because he had tested positive for the coronavirus on Dec. 16. How convenient. Was he planning to skip the Australian Open if he didn’t catch a potentially deadly disease the month before?

 

 

Der Spiegel journalists found his certificate to be highly suspect. When they accessed the QR code on Monday afternoon the result came back negative. An hour later, the same QR code returned a positive result. Djokovic submitted a second, negative test result to show that he is no longer contagious — but Der Spiegel found evidence suggesting that the second test was actually conducted before the positive test. These certificates were generated in Serbia, where Djokovic is a national hero. It would not be hard to find cooperative physicians willing to provide any certificate he wanted.

So there is good reason to question whether Djokovic’s positive test result was genuine. If it was, that presents even more problems, because he was photographed in proximity with other people, without a mask, in the days following his supposed positive test. On Dec. 18, he did a photo shoot with a French sports magazine — and never informed the journalists that he had just tested positive.

So either Djokovic concocted a phony coronavirus test or he really did have covid and recklessly endangered others. Neither possibility casts his character in a flattering light.

Global Opinions: The Djokovic saga in Australia highlights a far greater injustice

 

Djokovic nevertheless received an exemption from the state of Victoria that allowed him to travel to Australia — only to have his visa revoked by federal authorities on Jan. 6. He had to spend several days in a hotel that houses refugees before a judge ruled on Jan. 10 that, because of procedural irregularities, Djokovic should be released.

 

 

But, on Friday, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke canceled his visa again on grounds of “public interest.” Experts in Australian immigration law suggest that because of the wide discretion granted to the government in such cases, Djokovic is unlikely to win a second appeal.

Djokovic greatly weakened his own case when he admitted to making a mistake on the immigration form. He attested that he had not traveled anywhere in the 14 days before his arrival in Melbourne, whereas he had actually visited Serbia and Spain. Djokovic blamed the error on his team, but it is his ultimate responsibility.

If Australia’s conservative government does wind up deporting “Novax” Djokovic, all I can say is, “Good on ya.” During the worst pandemic in a century, no exemption should be granted from public health laws for someone just because he happens to be supremely skilled at hitting a fuzzy yellow ball over a net.

 

 

Now the battle will shift to other countries that host major tennis tournaments — and in particular the three remaining Grand Slams. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has vowed to “piss” off the unvaccinated, yet his sports minister has said that Djokovic could play the French Open even while remaining unvaccinated. That’s not a good look.

Eugene Robinson: Australia should send Djokovic home

Then there is the Wimbledon tournament. It is played in Britain, whose prime minister, Boris Johnson, is rapidly losing popularity because he violated lockdown rules, including by hosting a party at 10 Downing Street in May 2020. It would be an even worse look for Johnson to offer Djokovic a pass to enter the U.K. — at least not without the required 10-day quarantine for unvaccinated arrivals.

Finally there’s the United States — host not only of the U.S. Open starting in August but also of major tournaments in March at Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami. Most travelers to the United States need to produce proof of vaccination. There are only a few exceptions allowed, including people “whose entry would be in the national interest.” I hope the Biden administration will show the same determination as Scott Morrison’s government in Australia in refusing to apply a double-standard for a double-faulting tennis star.

 

 

If Djokovic wants to continue playing tennis, he needs to get vaccinated — and to stop trying to circumvent the pandemic requirements that apply to everyone else. He needs to decide if he is going to be the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world or the No. 1 anti-vaxxer. He can’t be both. Djokovic may be the most skilled men’s player in tennis history, but his covid misconduct shows that true greatness still eludes him.

[tennisluvrredux]

Just now, tennisluvrredux said:

Opinion: If Novak Djokovic can’t play the Australian Open, he has no one but himself to blame

 

Novak Djokovic takes a break from practice on Friday ahead of the Australian Open. He's unlikely to play as the Australian government revoked his visa on Friday. (Diego Fedele/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

By Max Boot

Columnist

Today at 2:25 p.m. EST

 

 

This column has been updated.

Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world, has won 20 Grand Slam tournaments — a record he shares with his fellow greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He had a perfect opportunity to separate himself from his rivals this month by winning a record 21st Slam at the Australian Open, where he has already been the champion nine times. It now looks like that won’t happen — and Djokovic, however much he might wail and rage, has no one but himself to blame. He likely double-faulted his own way out the tournament.

Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up.

Unlike 97 percent of his peers on the men’s tennis tour, Djokovic refuses to be vaccinated because he is in thrall to wacky New Age ideas about health. But he tried to game the system so that he could play the Australian Open anyway. He claimed to be eligible for an exemption from the vaccination requirement because he had tested positive for the coronavirus on Dec. 16. How convenient. Was he planning to skip the Australian Open if he didn’t catch a potentially deadly disease the month before?

 

 

Der Spiegel journalists found his certificate to be highly suspect. When they accessed the QR code on Monday afternoon the result came back negative. An hour later, the same QR code returned a positive result. Djokovic submitted a second, negative test result to show that he is no longer contagious — but Der Spiegel found evidence suggesting that the second test was actually conducted before the positive test. These certificates were generated in Serbia, where Djokovic is a national hero. It would not be hard to find cooperative physicians willing to provide any certificate he wanted.

So there is good reason to question whether Djokovic’s positive test result was genuine. If it was, that presents even more problems, because he was photographed in proximity with other people, without a mask, in the days following his supposed positive test. On Dec. 18, he did a photo shoot with a French sports magazine — and never informed the journalists that he had just tested positive.

So either Djokovic concocted a phony coronavirus test or he really did have covid and recklessly endangered others. Neither possibility casts his character in a flattering light.

Global Opinions: The Djokovic saga in Australia highlights a far greater injustice

 

Djokovic nevertheless received an exemption from the state of Victoria that allowed him to travel to Australia — only to have his visa revoked by federal authorities on Jan. 6. He had to spend several days in a hotel that houses refugees before a judge ruled on Jan. 10 that, because of procedural irregularities, Djokovic should be released.

 

 

But, on Friday, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke canceled his visa again on grounds of “public interest.” Experts in Australian immigration law suggest that because of the wide discretion granted to the government in such cases, Djokovic is unlikely to win a second appeal.

Djokovic greatly weakened his own case when he admitted to making a mistake on the immigration form. He attested that he had not traveled anywhere in the 14 days before his arrival in Melbourne, whereas he had actually visited Serbia and Spain. Djokovic blamed the error on his team, but it is his ultimate responsibility.

If Australia’s conservative government does wind up deporting “Novax” Djokovic, all I can say is, “Good on ya.” During the worst pandemic in a century, no exemption should be granted from public health laws for someone just because he happens to be supremely skilled at hitting a fuzzy yellow ball over a net.

 

 

Now the battle will shift to other countries that host major tennis tournaments — and in particular the three remaining Grand Slams. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has vowed to “piss” off the unvaccinated, yet his sports minister has said that Djokovic could play the French Open even while remaining unvaccinated. That’s not a good look.

Eugene Robinson: Australia should send Djokovic home

Then there is the Wimbledon tournament. It is played in Britain, whose prime minister, Boris Johnson, is rapidly losing popularity because he violated lockdown rules, including by hosting a party at 10 Downing Street in May 2020. It would be an even worse look for Johnson to offer Djokovic a pass to enter the U.K. — at least not without the required 10-day quarantine for unvaccinated arrivals.

Finally there’s the United States — host not only of the U.S. Open starting in August but also of major tournaments in March at Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami. Most travelers to the United States need to produce proof of vaccination. There are only a few exceptions allowed, including people “whose entry would be in the national interest.” I hope the Biden administration will show the same determination as Scott Morrison’s government in Australia in refusing to apply a double-standard for a double-faulting tennis star.

 

 

If Djokovic wants to continue playing tennis, he needs to get vaccinated — and to stop trying to circumvent the pandemic requirements that apply to everyone else. He needs to decide if he is going to be the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world or the No. 1 anti-vaxxer. He can’t be both. Djokovic may be the most skilled men’s player in tennis history, but his covid misconduct shows that true greatness still eludes him.

Amen

[Dabbakai]

During the worst pandemic in a century, no exemption should be granted from public health laws for someone just because he happens to be supremely skilled at hitting a fuzzy yellow ball over a net.

 

 

@tennisluvr ee comment chuste emaipothadoo emoo 

[tennisluvrredux]

1 minute ago, Dabbakai said:

During the worst pandemic in a century, no exemption should be granted from public health laws for someone just because he happens to be supremely skilled at hitting a fuzzy yellow ball over a net.

 

 

@tennisluvr ee comment chuste emaipothadoo emoo 

Nene ga article post chesindi, cheppina danlo tappemundi. 

Novak gademanna special aah, he doesn't follow the rules let him not play the tournament. Simple as that. He's not bigger than the tournament and will never be

[Dabbakai]

2 minutes ago, tennisluvrredux said:

Nene ga article post chesindi, cheppina danlo tappemundi. 

Novak gademanna special aah, he doesn't follow the rules let him not play the tournament. Simple as that. He's not bigger than the tournament and will never be

rendu ids neeve naa 

djoker fans ayina @r2d2 and @Sucker cheppali muchata

[r2d2]

2 minutes ago, Dabbakai said:djoker fans ayina @r2d2 and @Sucker cheppali muchata

[tennisluvrredux]

1 minute ago, r2d2 said:

Vadini vaade stop chesukunnadu ga. 

Cheating drama queen, application lo "human error" by his admin staff anta, vaadi visa document kooda vaadu overview chesukoda? 

[tennisluvrredux]

Ee Novax gaadu Serbia lo next politics ki try chesukochu pakka, vaadu aade drama veshalaki ade best

[tennisluvrredux]

[r2d2]

1 minute ago, tennisluvrredux said:

Vadini vaade stop chesukunnadu ga. 

Yes.. he & Tennis Australia are totally responsible for the fiasco.. he should simply leave at least now.. 

[Dabbakai]

Just now, r2d2 said:

 

 

[tennisluvrredux]

Just now, r2d2 said:

Yes.. he & Tennis Australia are totally responsible for the fiasco.. he should simply leave at least now.. 

Australia lo ruling party odipoye chances baaga unnayanta, so vallaki kooda they needed this drama to show how "tough" they are on anti vaxxers. 

So Novak gaadu correct ga dorikadu vallaki time ki

[tennisluvrredux]

Let's be rational. Novak Djokovic (ND) didn't have Covid in Dec 2021 but now he's been caught in a deepening web of his own lies. Long before the AO 2022 he knew that the only way he could play the tournament would be via a medical exemption. Given he has no valid medical condition, the only exemption he could get would be a "recent positive Covid diagnosis". So he had to plan to get Covid in Dec 2021 or he had to cook up a "positive" PCR test. This explains why he refused to answer questions about his vaccination status or AO plans in the months leading up to the tournament; he couldn't admit "My ambition trumps all; I'm planning to submit a false positive Covid test to get a medical exemption to enter Australia and play the 2022 AO".

 

This also explains why his "positive" / "negative" PCR tests have mismatching QR codes and why the former flips between "positive" and "negative" on scanning. He almost certainly had insider guarantees from Craig Tiley / Tennis Australia that if he sent in his "medical documentation", he'd get his exemption from the "impartial panel" (which would've just seen ND's "positive" / "negative" Dec 16/22, 2021 PCR tests from Serbia's Dept of Health, without of course knowing that there was fakery).

 

This is exactly how it played out. What Craig Tiley / Tennis Australia / ND and his team did NOT bank on was that the Australian Border Force would closely examine ND's suspicious exemption and that it would cancel his Victoria State / Tennis Australia visa, which was within its jurisdiction to do. ND then made a huge mistake in challenging the visa cancellation; he didn't realize this would wind up exposing his fraudulent medical exemption, fraudulent Australia entry declaration, apparent quarantine violations in Serbia and Spain, etc, to public scrutiny. Now he's really stuck; he can't admit that he cooked up the fake PCR test and was thus cavorting publicly with kids, reporters, etc. in the days following because he didn't have Covid.

 

 

 

[r2d2]

97 of the top 100 ATP players got vaccinated.. Sandgren & Herbert chose to skip the AO.. 

[mirchi_bajji]

Next gene editing ee....ppl will shun families who did not edit their children's genes to be perfect humans. How dare they effect other people health with their poor genes.