‘I’m willing to pay the price’: Novak Djokovic

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is prepared to put convictions over his place in tennis hory if tournaments around the world ins on having players vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to participate.
In an interview with BBC, the Serb denied he was anti-vaccination, but said he was only exercising his personal choice when it came to deciding what entered his body.
Djokovic was deported when he went to play the Australian Open. Rafael Nadal subsequently went took the crown, moving one ahead of him and Roger Federer in Grand Slam count with his record-breaking 21st title. And Djokovic insed he may decide not to play future Grand Slams if required to be vaccinated to do so. That may allow Nadal to move further ahead in the overall race.

What Djokovic said:
On the possibility of skipping future Grand Slams over his vaccination stance
“Yes, that is the price that I’m willing to pay. I was never against vaccination, but I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body.
“I understand the consequences of my decision. I am unable to travel to most tournaments at the moment.”
The present Covid protocols for the remaining Grand Slams of the year
French Open: France requires people entering public venues to show proof of vaccination. This applies to sportspersons, but Djokovic may be exempted due to his Covid infection within the previous six months.
Wimbledon: Vaccination is not mandatory but Djokovic will have to take a Covid test before and after his arrival in England. A period of quarantine is mandated only if one returns a positive result.
US Open: If he stays unvaccinated, Djokovic may need an exemption from the American government. These are generally given to persons who may not have got the jab on medical advice or may not have had access to one before arriving in the country. Humanitarian exemptions are given on an “extremely limited basis.”
Djokovic’s justification of his stance
“Because 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.
“As an elite professional athlete, I’ve always carefully reviewed . . . anything that comes into my body as a fuel. I say that everyone has the right to choose or act to say what feels appropriate for them. I have never said I was a part of that [antivaccine] movement. Based on all the information that I got, I decided not to take the vaccine, as of today.
I understand and support fully the freedom to choose whether you get vaccinated or not. I have not spoken about this before and I have not disclosed my medical record as I have a right to keep that private and discreet. But as I see there are a lot of wrong conclusions and assumptions out there. I think it’s important to speak up about that and justify certain things.”
Novak Djokovic rides in car as he leaves a government detention facility before attending a court hearing at his lawyers office in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. A federal court hearing has been scheduled for Sunday, a day before the men’s No. 1-ranked tennis player and nine-time Australian Open champion was due to begin his title defense at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. (Source: AP)
About the controversy over his positive test result before travelling to Australia:
“I understand that there is a lot of criticism, and I understand that people come out with different theories on how lucky I was or how convenient it is.
“But no one is lucky and convenient of getting Covid. Millions of people have and are still struggling with Covid around the world. So I take this very seriously, I really don’t like someone thinking I’ve misused something or in my own favour, in order to, you know, get a positive PCR test and eventually go to Australia.
“I never used my privileged status to get into Australia force or do anything in this entire process.”
On the legal drama in Australia:
“I understand that there has been lots of, say, frustrations from Australian people towards me and towards the entire situation and the way it was dealt with. I would like to say that I always followed the rules.
“I was ready not to go to Australia. I was really sad and disappointed with the way it all ended for me in Australia. It wasn’t easy.
“So actually, what people probably don’t know is that I was not deported from Australia on the basis that I was not vaccinated, or I broke any rules or that I made an error in my visa declaration. All of that was actually approved and validated the Federal Court of Australia and the Miner for Immigration.
The reason why I was deported from Australia was because the miner for immigration used his discretion to cancel my visa based on his perception that I might create some anti-vax sentiment in the country or in the city, which I completely disagree with.
“Absolutely, the visa declaration error was not deliberately made. It was accepted and confirmed the Federal Court and the miner himself in the Minry for Immigration in Australia.”

Whether his stance can change in the future
“I’m keeping my mind open, because we are all trying to find collectively, a best possible solution to end Covid.
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.
There is always a possibility things will change in the future. As of today, this is my decision. We’ll see what happens.”