After the Australian judge ruled on Monday that Novak Djokovic’s visa had been incorrectly revoked, the best tennis player in the world can go wherever he wants in Melbourne. Djokovic even trained for the Australian Open, but the Australian Minister of Immigration can deport the 34-year-old Serb before the tournament starts. Commentators are following the affair surrounding ‘The Djoker’ with interest.
“Novak Djokovic is just another of the rich and powerful who seem to have circumvented the corona restrictions – and people notice that,” he said. Clive Hamilton and Myra Hamilton in an opinion piece for the British newspaper The Guardian. The Djokovic case has once again brought to the surface the aversion of many Australians to the unequal application of the very strict corona rules. And disgust, perhaps “the dominant mood of our time,” can have caustic political effects. If the way out of the pandemic depends on Australians’ commitment to the common good, then the perception that a few rich are being exempted from the rules can only erode personal commitment to this common good.”
According to Gert Korentschnig The Djokovic affair shows ‘what bitter fissures vaccination is causing worldwide’. In the Austrian newspaper courier writes the commentator: “As soon as the words vaccination or restrictions are mentioned, today adversaries retreat to their trenches and fire their volleys of verbal mortar shells. Any incident (no matter how small) can lead to conflict. The virus is just the trigger, the accelerator. The deep distrust of others, of those who think differently, of those who look different, was there before.’
columnist Lola Garcia detected in the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia particularly excessive nationalism: ‘An interesting aspect is the reaction of many Serbs who have demonstrated in front of their compatriot, feeling that he has been humiliated by the ban on entering Australia. They too are clearly offended. Conspiracy theories mixed with exaggerated nationalism lead to an elusive cocktail. Underlying both is the desire to distinguish oneself and to identify alleged enemies. The Serbs who are protesting today attach too much importance to themselves, just like the tennis player himself.’
columnist Giorgos Kallinikou says in the Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros that the issue mainly shows how unvaccinated elite athletes are finding it increasingly difficult. A perfectly healthy athlete is in danger of being deprived of the right to fight and defend his title, just as Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greek tennis player, ed.) was forced to get vaccinated so he could continue playing tennis. But the absurdity does not stop at the obligation to be vaccinated, but extends even to the type of vaccine. Take Russian Natalia Vichljantseva, who was disfellowshipped for being vaccinated with Sputnik! The world has said goodbye to the mind for the past two years.’
Alistair Walsh finds in an opinion piece for Deutsche Welle that the soap opera surrounding Djokovic has exposed ‘Australia’s Kafkaesque border policy’ to the world. In a poetic twist, Djokovic was locked up in the same hotel as dozens of refugees and asylum seekers trapped in decades of uncertainty, unable to leave, unable to enter the country. And their incarceration is a relative luxury compared to the misfortune of others seeking asylum in Australia, thousands of whom are languishing in offshore detention centers. All victims of border violence. (…) Australia should take this case to reconsider its very strict approach at the border and prioritize human well-being over cheap political scoring.’