Novak Djokovic received no “special favours” to play at the opening Grand Slam of the year, Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley insisted Wednesday as the move to grant him a medical exemption sparked fury.<\/p>\n

The nine-time Australian Open champion announced late Tuesday he was en route to Melbourne with “an exemption permission”, culminating a drawn-out saga over whether he would defend his title.<\/p>\n

All participants at the tournament, which starts on January 17, must be vaccinated against Covid-19 or have the exemption, which is assessed by two panels of independent experts.<\/p>\n

The Serb has repeatedly refused to confirm if he has been inoculated and previously expressed opposition to the coronavirus vaccine.<\/p>\n

Melbourne and Sydney have both endured months of restrictions and lockdowns over the past two years, and allowing him in was widely criticised.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s disgusting. I think he should have made his mind up before now and it shouldn’t be a last minute decision to get him in,” Melbourne resident Ron Wilson told AFP on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Other city residents were more sympathetic with Morteza Yari saying: “I think as long as the exemption is valid and they have valid reasons I don’t see a problem with that.”<\/p>\n

Tiley insisted the decision was above board and defended the integrity of the process, run by the national and Victorian state governments, that reviewed his application.<\/p>\n

He revealed 26 players or their support staff from the 3,000 or so travelling to Australia had asked for an exemption, and only a few were successful.<\/p>\n

“Any person who met those conditions has been allowed to come in. There’s been no special favour. There’s been no special opportunity granted to Novak,” Tiley told Channel Nine television.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Vaccine opposition –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Among the conditions allowing entry without a vaccine is if the person has had Covid-19 in the past six months. It is not clear whether this was the case with Djokovic.<\/p>\n

Tiley previously said the two panels assessed each exemption without knowing the identity of the applicant, with reasons for granting approval remaining confidential.<\/p>\n

Djokovic expressed his opposition to the Covid-19 vaccine in April 2020 when it was suggested they might be obligatory so tournament play could resume.<\/p>\n

“Personally I am not pro-vaccines,” said Djokovic said at the time. “I would not like it for someone to compel me to be vaccinated so I can travel.”<\/p>\n

Some players expressed surprise with the ruling, including British doubles player Jamie Murray who said at the ATP Cup in Sydney: “I don’t know what to say about that really.<\/p>\n

“I think if it was me that wasn’t vaccinated I wouldn’t be getting an exemption.”<\/p>\n

Tiley said he understood the community being concerned.<\/p>\n

“People this morning would wake up to that news (and I) would completely understand and empathise with them being completely upset,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Really at the end of the day … not only was the process appropriately followed but the conditions in which any tennis player comes in — no matter who they are — conditions put on tennis and put on anyone coming into Australia is by the Australian government.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic received no “special favours” to play at the opening Grand Slam of the year, Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley insisted Wednesday as the move to grant him a medical exemption sparked fury. The nine-time Australian Open champion announced late Tuesday he was en route to Melbourne with “an exemption permission”, culminating a drawn-out saga over whether he would defend his title. All participants at the tournament, which starts on January 17, must be vaccinated against Covid-19 or have the exemption, which is assessed by two panels of independent experts. The Serb has repeatedly refused to confirm if he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-yeswecantv-news"],"yoast_head":"\n