Perhaps the biggest sporting story that has emerged in 2022 has been the deportation of world n0.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic - which arrived in Melbourne unvaccinated to defend his Australian Open crown and also attempt to win a record 21st grand slam. Djokovic who controversially received a medical exemption from the Australian Open authorities and the Victorian government was detained upon arrival only to be released after a court overturned the cancellation of his visa. However, then Australia's immigration minister used his discretionary powers to deport the unvaccinated tennis star on grounds of public order and the health of the Australian public.
The controversy has raised alarms even for the Australian GP which hasn't happened since the 2019 season. Considering the race also happens in Melbourne, which has been one of the most strictly locked down cities in the world, in light of the Djokovic controversy, the organisers of the race have warned that anyone who comes into Australia for the race weekend will need to have a mandatory vaccination and no exemption would be granted.
"It's a massive global story, and it's been out there for every sport fan and every sport journalist across the globe to report on, and therefore it's brought focus on Melbourne and focus on the issue," said Andrew Westacott, the CEO of the Australian GP.
In the case of Djokovic - the scenario was bungled by all quarters. Exemptions for non-vaccination needed to be granted by December 10, but it was revealed that Djokovic had only tested positive for COVID19 on December 16. Then it was revealed that he had falsely documented in his visa application that he had not been to any other country before arriving in Australia as he had been in Spain. He also admitted to having attended public events after having tested positive that too unmasked.
Novak Djokovic AFP
There seemed to be some kind of miscommunication between the Victorian state and the Australian government as well. Before boarding his flight for Melbourne, Djokovic revealed he had received an exemption which caused angst in Australia, and upon arrival, his visa was canceled, despite him being granted the visa, which has caused a diplomatic incident between Serbia and Australia.
"Because of the outcome of that issue, it hasn't necessarily been observed favourably in the same way you get positive kudos at the end of staging these wonderful tournaments. Major events are a double-edged sword, and you always see this in the lead-up to and the staging of massive events, be it F1, grand slams, majors in golf, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. If you stage them well, you get pats on the back, and if you stage them poorly or there are issues, you're judged in the court of public opinion. That's what has happened here, and it's up to sports fans or sports journalists [to] say whether we've lost our gloss. But there's no doubt people have been sitting in judgement and observing it in many areas, and I know that because we deal with a lot of people on a global basis," he added.
In fact, the pandemic started exploding across the planet on the eve of the 2020 Australian GP which was also the F1 season opener. It was only when someone in the McLaren paddock tested positive the race was cancelled and the season was postponed. Since then Melbourne has been in a very strict lockdown and F1 hasn't returned to Australia because of the strict vaccination and quarantine rules which are incompatible with the bi-monthly cycle of races that happen in a season. But as the pandemic has started to subside despite the new variants, chances are finally the Australian GP will return on the calendar after two years.
"If you look at the cancellation of our event on March 13, 2020, and the staging of the next event, which will be April 2022, there have been 41 events around the world staged, and in every one of those jurisdictions there have been different stages of the pandemic and different border entry conditions. In every one of those, Formula 1 has been able to operate and retain business continuity. It's a mandatory requirement for the sport and the traveling contingent to be compliant at the points of entry, and they'll be compliant at the point of entry in Australia and Melbourne," Westacott explained.
