Who is being U, Australia or Novak Djokovic?

[inheritancetrack]

Me, I'm in the you can't have your cake and eat it Novak, camp!

It wasn't a problem for Australia a week ago when he got the required visa. It's only a problem now because of the (understandable) anger towards the extreme rules there have been in place for the last couple of years preventing many of their own citizens from returning. I think there is much more to it than the fact that he has not been vaccinated.

If the paperwork you provide doesn’t align with the terms of the visa you’ve been granted, that’s on you.

It’s also on the airline, who are responsible for checking this paperwork before departure. So if the exemption isn’t valid, the airline may have fallen short here.

In Oz at the moment - honestly getting in was an absolute nightmare, and that’s as a close relative of an Australian citizen. It took us months to get everything lined up to get in. He has to play by the rules!

Neither side has covered themselves in glory but as Novak is a bellend I am guffawing at the outcome - just desserts!

@Iwonder08

The only reason he is detained now is because he was vocal about his view on mandatory vaccination. They don't want someone famous and popular expressing their view that are against their government line.

Plenty of people get turned around at the border, or put into hotel quarantine, for not having the right paperwork or supporting evidence.

Team Oz! Why his team thought the Tennis associations decision of allowing him to play would override the country they are going to visitation rules I don't know. Well I do, if they are all as arrogant and Novak comes across.

Just heard a journalist on BBC saying that Tennis Australia wrote to the Australian Government some time ago to ask if Djokovic's exemption reason was acceptable and were told "no" but still went ahead and approved it through their panel.

If that is true then Tennis Australia clearly shoulder some of the blame here.

@Gardeningtipsneeded

But they gave him the visa under their own rules and told him he could play. They granted the medical exemption. They revoked it on his arrival because of backlash.

Actually, that's not true.

Thousands of visas are granted every year and airlines let you in because in theory you have a visa. The problem is that when you get to the country and the Border Force checking your papers and visa, they won't allow you entry because your visa is wrong or you haven't provided the right documentation for the visa.

Again, this is not new. Airlines will let you in provided you have a passport of a visa with the apparent requirements. They won't check whether a medical exception is/not going to be accepted by customs officers in the destination country. It's up to the individual to make sure they comply with the rules of the country they are getting into. The pandemic has put another layer of more legal requisitions, but it has not changed the fundamental.

If you are not double vaxxed with an approved Atagi Australian vaccine you can't enter Australia. Those rules have beeen well known to us all for more than a year.

Why do the rich and famous always think the rules shouldn't apply to them?

@Exhausteddog

I think they are both unreasonable. Australian rules seem incredibly harsh and unreasonable. However he is unreasonable to think they don't apply to him.

I don’t think it’s harsh and unreasonable of Australia to refuse to bend the rules, just because he is a famous tennis player.

He's bonkers. He should have never gotten an exemption and it's really great they finally put their foot down and didn't let him in.
Celiakia, my arse. None of the vaccinations comes in breadcrumbs.

Australia seems an absolute mess at the moment and not just with Novak chaos. It’s unbelievable a tennis player is causing such an international diplomatic incident.
The situation there seems worse than we have ever been at our most chaotic (including maybe April 2020 and then Sep 2020 and Dec 2020 too) with their testing and supply of lfts etc plus all the quarantining stuff.
Melbourne has had the longest lockdown in the world and for what? I’d be fuming with it all if I was unfortunate enough to live there.

He had been granted a medical exemption, it's nobody's business but his and his doctors of why.

Athletes are notorious for using doctors to help them cheat. What about all the top cyclists who have ‘asthma’. He doesn’t have a valid medical exemption. He thinks he’s too important to observe the same rules as everyone else. He’s also stupid to have made his anti vax views public. I’ve always got a bad vibe from him.

Definitely Team Aus.

I've always thought he was a bit of an arse and this just confirms it.

@Tal45

Why do the rich and famous always think the rules shouldn't apply to them?

Because they very often are shown not to. Unfortunately for Novak, he counted on it to continue.

How was he allowed on the plane without the right paperwork? Usually airlines are super strict especially for Australia.

@Gardeningtipsneeded

I was team Oz but now I think they are a bit cowardly for deciding to let him in but then backtracking when they got back lash. I imagine Djokovic is too rich to care really and although I believe he is a bit of a twat, be has stuck to his guns.

I'm not sure he won't care. He's only rich/famous because he's a top tennis player presumably with a lot of sponsorship. If Australia is the start of a pattern then he won't continue to be to be a top player if he is unable to compete in tournaments. At that point his rank will drop and then the sponsorships and prize money will go.

I instinctively don't like him very much based on what I know of him but I'm not quite sure which side I fall on.

Team Oz, it's been handled badly by many people but rules can't be bend for some. He has the freedom of choice and his choices have consequences.

Didn’t he have covid because he organised a party during some tennis tournament where numerous of them became infected?

I agree Australia have only acted because of the backlash, but he was already an arrogant twat, he’s just proven himself.

Australia is certainly not being unreasonable in these circumstances.

@inheritancetrack

Me, I'm in the you can't have your cake and eat it Novak, camp!

Good for Australia for not backing down because of who he is, one rule for all

Team Australia all the way. If he doesn't meet the entry requirements then quite why he thought he'd get in is a mystery, but perhaps he's arrogant enough to think that his position, wealth and profile would exempt him from the rules that us mere mortals have to adhere to.

Team Australia. He assumed he could use who he is and ££ no doubt to enter, when Joe bloggs would be turned away without a vaccination. Good on Australia for sending him on his way.

This has just been explained on Today by an Aussie sports journalist. It’s about state v federal law - he as allowed by the State of Victoria to go to Victoria and travel within the state, but this is trumped by federal rules which say that he’s not allowed into the country in order to get to Victoria and exercise that permission.

Did the state of Victoria grant the Visa?

Team Australia. It isn't about whether the rules about vaccinated are warranted; I'd say that they are OTT and that's how they've always been there. But they are the rules and they should be applied equally to everyone.

I also can't stand the man anyway.

@EerieSilence

He's bonkers. He should have never gotten an exemption and it's really great they finally put their foot down and didn't let him in. Celiakia, my arse. None of the vaccinations comes in breadcrumbs.

I agree with your first sentence and have absolutely no idea what your last two sentences mean! Is he saying he has coeliac disease and that is why he should be medically exempt, perhaps? But your last sentence has me utterly stumped!