The World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who was ousted from Australia right before the first major Grand Slam of the year due to not being vaccinated, has now made his stance very clear for the whole world.
When asked if he would forgo tournaments like the French Open and Wimbledon if there is a requirement of being vaccinated, Djokovic answered in the affirmative.
“Yes, that is the price that I’m willing to pay,” he said.
“The principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can,”
“I was never against vaccination. I understand that globally, everyone is trying to put a big effort into handling this virus and seeing, hopefully, an end soon to this virus.”
“I never used my privileged status to get into Australia by force. I was treated as anybody else. The circular e-mail that my team received was sent to all the athletes, both male and female, both qualification and main draws. There were hundreds of tennis players receiving that email. So, we were following the rules and when there was a possibility of medical exemption, I was using that and I applied.”
“I put forward my PCR test, my sufficient amount of antibodies that I had at the time and I got accepted by two independent Australian medical panels — anonymously, it’s important to mention. My name was not on the application,” added the tennis star.