Australian Open head Craig Tiley denies Novak Djokovic any special terms; says “Vaccination is necessary” »FirstSportz

Ever since the Victorian prime minister announced that only vaccinated players will be allowed into Australia, they have debated whether forcing players to get vaccinated is the right thing to do. . While the majority agree that vaccination is the way forward, some are adamant that vaccination should be the calling of every individual.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley recently caught up with the Sydney Morning Herald and talked about the summer calendar that was floated a few days ago. He says things have not been easy but things are on track for a great summer.

“No, it’s not easy. It kicks off right after the first day of this year’s Australian Open and plans for many more events, but we’re excited to announce the full schedule – 17 professional events starting January 1 across the country. Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. Everything is on track for a great summer,” he say.

Recently, the new variant of Covid-19, Omicron is a big threat. It was found a few days ago in South Africa which is considered very dangerous. Tiley spoke about the same thing and said that there hasn’t been much clarity about the virus and that for now, a full summer is planned.

“When we announced the event, we knew there would be more challenges as this is the nature of the world we’ve been living in since the last 2 years,” he say. “But we are still waiting – I spoke to the government overnight and there are still a lot of unanswered questions so I think in the next 14 days we will have some clarity. But for now, the plans are still the same. We are expecting a 100% capacity crowd in January. ”

There are no special rules for any athlete

Tiley continued that every athlete would have to follow the protocols and that they would not be exempted from anything.

“Every participating athlete must have a negative PCR test, be retested when they arrive, and there will be a number of procedures and programs in place to make sure everyone is safe. So, at this point, things are still going with a full summer planned in advance,” he say.

“This was the intention from the beginning. When the premiere announced that going to Victoria and playing in Melbourne Park would have to be vaccinated, that included everyone – fans, staff and players alike. Only 50% of the players are vaccinated and that number will be closer to 90%. There is still time until everyone arrives at the end of December and everyone knows they have to be vaccinated 7 days before coming to Australia,” he added.

He talks more about Novak Djokovic and said the Serb had made it clear that he would keep his vaccinations private. He also said that everyone would have to submit certified proof of vaccinations, clarifying that Djokovic would not have any privileges.

He say: “Novak has made it clear that his status is private and personal to him and he is entitled to that. But to get to Australia they have to be certified proof of vaccinations that have been confirmed by health officials here and that will be the same for everyone. So everyone understands it and is well received. And yes, we did our part to get more players vaccinated because we were the first event to require mandatory vaccinations.”

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