Djokovic’s closure exposes professional players not protected from Covid’s rules

As Novak Djokovic prepares for a successful tennis 21st Grand slam, it does not include staying in a private hotel used by the Australian government to house refugees.

The shocking arrests of people all over the world in Melbourne this week, when the Australian military ordered the evacuation of the country, show that even the biggest sporting demonstrations in the world do not have any public health problems.

Djokovic insisted at the Park Hotel before appealing on Monday after the idea of ​​a contestant not to go to the hospital was denied and his visa revoked, which cast doubt on his defense of the Australian Open title.

The Serbian, an anti-vaccine protester who never said he had received the Covid-19 jab, is one of the athletes known to comment on vaccine concerns.

U.S. basketball star Kyrie Irving’s refusal to accept the vaccine led to his Brooklyn Nets team barring him from voting, while Aaron Rodgers, a National Soccer League quarterback, defended the right to “choose your body”.

Concerns have also erupted over vaccine prices in English football – the 18 Premier League games scheduled for Christmas have been suspended due to Covid plagues.

Tim Crow, a sports marketing expert, said it was wrong to judge sports professionals as human beings, saying athletes had a habit of paying attention to their medications and diets at the right time, for example to follow doping. essential.

He said: “The athlete’s attitude is very different from that of the average person. “No wonder many of them are superior, very good at putting something in their body if they feel they don’t know what’s going to happen.”

As athletes have become increasingly vocal in their political and social coverage, some have been embroiled in controversy over the vaccine. But as Colin Kaepernick discovered in 2016 when he first knelt down when the US national anthem was played before the NFL game, the runners could face a major challenge against their ideology.

“We live in a world where we are accustomed to athletes having ideas but you can’t have both sides,” Crow said. “He can not just take a stand when necessary.”

But controversies over celebrities such as Djokovic who have spoken out contradict the evidence that many athletes have been vaccinated, or are on the verge of doing so.

According to the Association of Tennis Professionals, a professional body, more than 95 percent of men in the top 100 received double vaccination. A person close to the commission said Australian requirements have encouraged battered players to compete in the Grand slam.

North American leagues have done a great workout. The National Hockey League in October declared a “surprising” victory, with 99 per cent of the 700-year-old players considered vaccinated, while the Women’s National Basketball Association did the same in June.

Game winners say it is easy for players, club owners and sports clubs to work together in team games to encourage players to get vaccinated, for example by connecting to Zoom phones.

Especially in the Olympic arena, in the club grounds, I don’t think there is much compassion. [for unvaccinated athletes], ”Said Michael Payne, former chief marketing officer of the International Olympic Committee. Athletes at the Winter Olympics must be isolated for three weeks upon arrival in Beijing if they have not been vaccinated.

Tennis players, however, are people who rely on the money they earn from winning matches, rather than earning guaranteed pay.

“There is a big difference between a team game and a personal game,” said the chief medical officer of the American sports league. “[With] tennis you can speak differently than you say in basketball, which will have major consequences, either in football or in hockey. “

The English Premier League, Europe’s most lucrative club, said last month that 77 percent of players in its 20 clubs received two immunizations. But the latest figures in the English Soccer League, which run the top three in the top flight, show that only 59 percent of players have been beaten twice, while a quarter “currently does not want to be vaccinated”.

Simon Hallett, owner of Plymouth Argyle of the EFL, said the reason it was so difficult was because football was “a traditional company and people think very old-fashioned”.

“The boys who spend most of their time sitting in the locker rooms and sharing their thoughts on the plot. It is a pity that so many did not want to be vaccinated,” he said.

By comparison, more than 85 percent of Spanish soccer players in La Liga receive a vaccine, according to someone close to the league, while almost all players in Italian Serie A were beaten before new rules were introduced from Monday to make the vaccine legal.

The experience of Djokovic, whose salary is worth $ 154m, shows that vaccination can have a profound effect on a player’s performance, preventing them from competing in foreign competition until they are registered with the top team.

Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool’s manager for the English Premier League who is recovering from coronavirus, warned last month to consider seriously signing non-vaccinated players, citing health risks. “If a player doesn’t have a vaccine, they are always dangerous,” he said.

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