Living Legend Novak 'No-Vax' Djokovic Wins Exemption to Compete in Australian Open

Happy New Year! Wishing you all health, love & joy in every moment & may you feel love & respect towards all beings on this wonderful planet.

I’ve spent fantastic quality time with loved ones over break & today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission. Let’s go 2022! pic.twitter.com/e688iSO2d4

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 4, 2022

Novak Djokovic said he had received an exemption to play in this month’s Australian Open despite rules the country and the tournament have put in place requiring players to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to participate https://t.co/E6ehZNDkMM

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 4, 2022

Men's tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic said on Tuesday that he had received an exemption to play in this month’s Australian Open despite rules the country and the tournament have put in place requiring players to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to participate.

Djokovic, who has said publicly that he didn't want to be vaccinated, indicated that he had received an unspecified medical exemption to enter the country. He made the announcement in a social media post that showed him with his luggage on an airport tarmac, ready to fly to Australia.

[...] Djokovic, who won three of tennis’s four Grand Slam tournaments last year, had been in one of the highest profile showdowns in sports over vaccination status. While he was able to comply with negative testing requirements to make it through last season, Australia's tougher policies were always going to be a challenge. The tournament had insisted that no player, staff member, or fan would be admitted without being vaccinated.

But Australian Open organizers said on Tuesday that Djokovic's application for an exemption had been reviewed by a body called the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, which didn't give any details on his case. Djokovic contracted and recovered from Covid in the summer of 2020.