When even the Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios is defending Novak Djokovic, you know the Australians have got this whole sorry saga badly wrong. Kyrgios has never hidden his contempt for the world number 1 tennis player. While rival Rafael Nadal has struggled to hide his glee at the misfortune of the ace tennis star, Kyrgios has taken a different stand.
“I definitely believe in taking action – I got vaccinated for others and for my mum’s health – but how we are handling Novak’s situation is bad, really bad. This is one of our great champions. At the end of the day, he is human. Do better.”
I couldn’t agree more. For those enjoying the tennis star’s current misfortunes, let us look at the facts around the situation and see if we can make any more sense out of them than the Australian authorities are able to do themselves.
Djokovic refuses to disclose his vaccination status, which leads people to assume that he is unvaccinated but he has had COVID-19 within the last six months. He obtained a visa to enter Australia. He had a medical exemption, signed off by two health authorities, presumably on the basis that, having had the disease, he would have enough antibodies to counter the need for vaccination. In many places that would be sufficient. He boarded an Emirates plane without trouble. Had his paperwork not been in order, he would not have been allowed to board. He believed he had met all the requirements to play in Australia but while he was heading down under, a row was brewing. Tall Poppy Syndrome was rearing its ugly head. People were asking why tennis stars should be given special status when everyone else had to be vaccinated. Anger started to hit the pages of social media, with a vocal few expressing disdain at what they considered to be favouritism for the tennis superstar.
Like most politicians, Scott Morrison couldn’t resist an opportunity to score points and decided to get on the campaign trail early, having largely played down the entire matter previously.
It’s a pity though that that Australian border authorities could not have got this right when Djokovic was applying for his visa. Morrison seems to forget that a country surrounded by water with a relatively low population will always have advantages over crowded areas elsewhere. But there is an election to be won this year. Thinking his stand would resonate with people who had made sacrifices during the pandemic, Morrison forgot that those who make the most noise are rarely a majority, and fair-minded Australians, of whom there are many, do not like to see scapegoating for political gain.
The biggest own goal was the fact that Djokovic, having arrived in Australia and having his visa cancelled, was put into a flea-infested hotel normally reserved for illegal immigrants. Stories are rife about this place having maggot-infested food and halls full of rapists and murderers. This is not an appropriate place to house the world’s top tennis player. It has a certain “Up Yours” mentality about it, which does not help Australia’s cause. It has also highlighted the way Australia treats refugees and immigrants which, whether you agree with them or not, will cause moral outrage at home and abroad. Morrison would almost certainly not have wanted this to be a focus while the election campaign was underway.
The debacle seems to be a result of bureaucratic ineptitude. It is the problem of federal government versus state government: a problem that is common in Australia, and often causes such issues. Similar tensions have been highlighted during Australia’s pandemic response, and Djokovic is the latest pawn in a ridiculous game… but the Australian Open, a jewel in the crown of the Australian sporting season, will be badly tarnished as a result.
Whatever happens now, Australia cannot win. A court case is pending. The most likely outcome is that Djokovic will not be allowed to play. The Australian authorities, after all their posturing, are unlikely to back down. Then the tournament will be sullied by the fact that bureaucracy stopped it from being a fair sporting event. Rules may be rules, but when a tennis megastar arrives in the country, believing that he has met all the requirements and is detained, thrown into a substandard asylum hotel and is likely to be deported, something is badly wrong. Arrangements could have been made to isolate Djokovic if the authorities were really concerned about his vaccination status and he could be tested regularly so that he could still compete. This is no way to treat the nine-times title holder of the Australian Open, and Australia will, in the end, be forced to pay for their folly and their bumbling ineptitude.
The final word has to go to the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, who rarely turns down an opportunity to open his mouth and insert both feet. Australians must be cringing at the lack of grace and sheer crudeness that Joyce has voiced over the debacle.
“You’ve been graced by God with a certain talent, but that talent does not rise above the sovereign rights of other nations,” he declared. “If you wander off into our country and don’t tell us the truth, we’re going to kick your a— out of here.”
Barnaby Joyce
Nice.
The trouble is, Djokovic did tell the truth, but it fell on the deaf ears of bureaucracy. As he languishes in a flea-ridden hotel, one wonders how this sorry saga will end. Australians have short memories; Djokovic donated $25,000 to the bushfire appeal two years ago but that does not seem to matter now. And for those – and there are many – who say that he deserves what he has got and should be deported, remember that you are taking the side of those who are robbing you of your freedoms. Maybe this is not a big deal to you, but what will it take for you to say: Enough? One day, you may wish you, like Djokovic, had stood up and been counted. Because this is not about vaccinations. This is cold hard politics, and nothing more.
