The saga of Novak’s tryst with Australian open, the ensuing memes and social media blitzkrieg fail to die out with the sports fraternity taking sides in the whole episode making it reach war-like proportions. Vijay Amritraj, the Indian Ace veteran, opines, "If Djokovic says the choice to the vaccine is his, but then so are the consequences.” A harsh rebuke!
On the other hand, Novak’s coach during his younger days,Bogdan Obradovic, is equally abrasive in his defence for Djokovic. Says he, “Commonwealth is trying to destroy the world number 1, because he was trying to change the world.” Invoking Pele, Mohammed Ali and even John Lennon and Mahatma Gandhi to put his point across, Bogdan goes a step beyond when he suggests, “Djokovic could now respond by organising his own world tour. And the BRIC community could now provide a strong counterpoint to the Commonwealth. He should start a new ATP tour.”
The sports buffs and followers all over the world are pained at the turn of events and equally intrigued at the Djokovic’s logic which has cost him a run at a record-breaking tournament. Was he not aware about the consequences of his doings ? Why was he so adamant about his health issues? Have the Australian authorities over-reacted? These questions need answers to see the whole episode in the right perspective.
When the curtains to this malicious saga could have been drawn only by a single jab, what prevented Novak to go for it? It is a point worth pondering! Novak’s persona is a complex denouement of the initial struggles of his life. Having descended from a skiing mountainous resort at Kopanik in war-torn Serbia, his parents had risked all for his career. As a prolific junior, Novak was always considered as a relative outsider under pressure to perform and prove himself. Over the years the underdog mentality of Novak has made him more resolute in his beliefs and resistant to outside influences while making him an “aloof” sports star unlike Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
This stubbornness coming in the wake of ingrained sufferings have instilled a feeling of “me above all” in him. Serbia is a country where the vague field of alternative medicine has seen an uptick though the society in general has been pro-vaccine. In line with the prevailing undercurrent of disbelief in the modern treatment options, Novak believes that his body can be taken care of without the intervention of any conventional medicine, however ridiculous it may have been in certain situations. The unbearable elbow pain which Novak suffered in 2017 for the whole one year just because he never wanted to go under the knife, is an example in point. And when he did undergo surgery, he cried for three days after waking up from the operation realising that he had failed himself and not got cured by holistic medicine .
Paranoid about gluten, he has been made to believe that his weakness of the left arm at some point of time in his career was attributed to his contact with a single loaf of bread!! And then after losing out to Medvedev in US open in 2021, Novak had gone for pilgrimage to the Pyramid of the Sun located in an indiscreet Bosnian town-hoping for some mystical solution to his predicament.
And then Djokovic’s friend ship with wellness entrepreneur Chervin is no secret. He believes and advocates detoxication of impure water by hither too unproven energetic transformations and power of prayers. All these concepts have only ossified with age in an otherwise lithe athletic frame. Reaching unbearable proportions, Novak’s ideas have made him a character worth an ignore or even worse, a scorn. The present saga has to be seen in this light, to come around with his point of view.
So what’s wrong in his belief? They are tolerable to an extent till Novak doesn’t impose himself on others or becomes a public health hazard. Kyrie Irving, a star basketball player withdrew silently from the games as he did not suit the New York city’s vaccine mandates.
So did American Tanny Sandgren, who pulled out of Australian Open rather than comply with the vaccine mandate. But Novak neither complied nor withdrew. That has been the crux of his undoing in Melbourne.
If Novak was really so firm in his belief, he could have conveniently stayed away from the tournament but he persisted with his claim by declaring that he had been Covid-positive a few weeks ago. As if he had contracted Covid so that he was eligible for the Australian tourney.
The last nail in the coffin was his false declaration that he had not travelled after he had tested positive which was blatantly exposed by his social media footprint in which he was seen travelling for functions on two occasions. This set the cast for his deportment and put him in very poor light both in the sporting and social circles.
Realising the potent public health risk because of huge segments of population in different American states and other parts of the world vehemently opposing the idea of mass vaccination for Covid- infections, certain governments are strongly considering the idea of imposing extra taxes in anti-vaxxers, especially if they land up in a hospital after Covid infection. Quebec, Singapore and Greece have come up with the idea of penalising these people or even debarring the anti-vaxxers from the Covid-treatment cover plan.
Acting with similar intentions, the Australian government did not exempt Novak from a vaccination pre- requisite to play in the Grand Slam being afraid that doing so would give a major fillip to the anti-vaccination sentiment especially at a time when the raging pandemic is inflicting everyone from Montreal to Melbourne.
Is the arrangement of formulating the health laws only to rescind them to accommodate a Novak, a Boris Johnson or a politician on an election trail justified in a civilised society of 2022. If not, then the Australian government has acted appropriately and not inordinately as some of Djokovic’s fans would like us to believe. And it’s not that I dislike his game or his sense of laser-focussed dedication. But sports is second to any country you are visiting and definitely not above the safety of the people involved.
Very well written. The law is above all, and those with power shouldn’t be allowed to bend the rules. As long as it’s a personal choice with impact on ones own life, it’s always a choice; but as soon as we enter Into the other person’s boundary, it’s not about me anymore!!
True. Even the brightest and the most experienced minds in the industry can not claim with certainty it's effects, side effects and efficacy etc after about one year of commencement of administering of first vaccine dose. Why talk about the vaccine only, the birth and growth of covid virus itself is still a mystery today. That's why every now and then one keeps hearing conflicting statements from the experts.
Mandating vaccines that are only granted emergency authorization by the FDA. Is it legally permitted.
There are always 2 face of coins.
Dr Sanjeev Hooja
Very nuanced write up. However I feel Novak let his stubbornness get better of his ambition and the bigger picture to be remembered as on one of the greatest tennis players of this era.One more slam would have put him above Roger & Rafa but for his refusal to get jabbed.
I also complement the Australian Govt’s adherence to its policy of universal application of its tough Covid laws irrespective of the status of a person.France too has taken clear stand on this issue . With age catching up on him,it’s entirely upto Novak to choose between ‘game set and match’ or ‘game over’...