French officials now say unvaccinated players like Novak Djokovic are unwelcome

The Australian Open has started and Novak Djokovic is in Dubai. Novak got deported from Australia on Sunday, and he was replaced in the draw by a lucky loser (meaning, someone who lost in qualifying). What would have been his half of the draw has obviously opened up a lot, and there will be some very interesting quarterfinalists, probably. ESPN’s coverage has already been the absolute worst on Day 1 of AO – while exciting first-round matches were being played in real time, ESPN gave John McEnroe about 20 minutes to loudly pontificate about how the Djokovic situation was all political and how he (McEnroe) texted Djokovic to tell him that it was all “BS.”

Meanwhile, there’s already a focus on what kind of year Djokovic will have if he remains unvaccinated. He will likely be able to play some ATP-level events in Europe, although (as I said yesterday), I have serious doubts that he will be able to come into America unvaccinated. He’s an unvaccinated foreign national – America likely will not give him a visa to enter the country to play Indian Wells and Miami. The next Slam is Roland Garros, aka the French Open. During Djokovic’s Australian mess, the French sports minister made a point of coming out and saying that they will allow unvaccinated players to come to Paris for RG. Except that as soon as Djokovic was deported, suddenly French health officials were like “wait, that’s actually a terrible idea.”

Novak Djokovic was still on his way home from Australia when another obstacle was put in his path in the form of a tightening of regulations in France towards the unvaccinated.

He is unlikely to play the big ATP tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March unless he changes his stance because of the USA’s tight restrictions, and on Sunday French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu performed an about-turn by saying sportspeople will need to be vaccinated to compete in the country.

Maracineau last week defended the idea of bubbles for unvaccinated athletes but on Sunday reversed that position after the passing of stricter measures in the French parliament, putting Djokovic’s defence of his French Open title in danger.

There appears no prospect of the British government following suit but it is not inconceivable that Wimbledon could be the only grand slam tournament where Djokovic competes in 2022.

His deportation also carries an automatic three-year ban from Australia, although it can be waived if there are deemed to be compelling reasons.

Much can still change ahead of the summer, of course, and Gilles Moretton, the president of the French Tennis Federation, told l’Equipe: “Our teams are working in collaboration with the public authorities, who will specify in due course the rules relating to the reception of unvaccinated foreign athletes for our tournament.”

[From The Independent]

It’s not weird to me that the French health and sports ministries are talking about a strict vaccine mandate. What was strange was the sports minister talking about welcoming unvaccinated athletes into the country during the same newscycle as French President Emmanuel Macron talking about how he’s hellbent on pissing off unvaccinated people. Macron is taking a hardline on vaccinations (as he should!!) and I would imagine that would include stricter vaccine rules for foreign nationals entering the country to play at RG too. All that being said, RG is months away. A lot can change. And Novak should get vaccinated.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

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44 Responses to “French officials now say unvaccinated players like Novak Djokovic are unwelcome”

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  1. Barbie1 says:

    Maybe this will make him reconsider. Granted it is difficult to make a common sense decision when you are surrounded by hysterical twits in your ear 24/7.

    • notasugarhere says:

      esp when the hysterical ant-vaxx twit in his ear 24/7 is his own ego.

    • BabsORIG says:

      Novak will get jabbed soon, mark my words; there’s way too much at stake at this point. And the French sports minister can bleat all she wants but she is SPORTS minister, she doesn’t control health nor immigration and border control ministries. That means that while its within her power to allow non vaccinateds to compete in RG, its not in her power to make Novac enter the country unvaccinated. That power belongs to minister of Health and minister of Immigration and border control; these two set the guidelines and hold all the cards of whether to or not to allow Novac, a foreign national, to enter their country unvaccinated.

  2. Léna says:

    That moron will never get vaccinated, even to be able to compete. He’s already the “martyr” of the anti vaxx

    • BabsORIG says:

      @Lena, never say never. His bid to get more grand slam titles will out weigh everything else.

      • Fernanda says:

        I agree with BabsORIG. This is his life, he doesn’t know anything else other than tennis. And he cannot risk it.

  3. Chic says:

    Macron said last week that he will make unvax lives he’ll.France is hit hard by Omicron and there is little tolerance for Coddled rich players..ND will get available pretty soon..it’s money for him at the end of the day and hippy dippy is anti-intellectualism hobby.
    What are his sponsors saying? He’s wearing LaCoste in one of the pictures

    • Sister+Carrie says:

      LaCoste has already demanded a meeting with him. They lost a lot of $ when he couldn’t play in the AO. Once his sponsors start to apply pressure, he may fold. Then again, he’s got more money than he could possibly spend: OTOH he wants that record. He’s really boxed himself into an impossible situation.

  4. ThatsNotOkay says:

    Let him throw his career away for his woo-woo uneducated yet I’m-smarter-than-all-the-scientists-who’ve-ever-come-before-me beliefs.

    We need to go back to a time when the dumbest people were not told they too were smart.

  5. Bassflower says:

    I’d be surprised if they didn’t. Macron is not playing at all with the unvaccinated.

  6. JustBitchy says:

    As another commenter said in a previous post Novak has such a supremely punchable face. The smugness has always emanated

  7. Elvie says:

    Lacoste is now investigating him which is interesting. I wonder if they will drop him if he doesn’t get vaccinated. I had to turn off ESPN last night because McEnroe was intolerable, but he also said that Novak is “very principled” and he seems to think (and I agree) that it is unlikely that he will be vaccinated. I mean… his father thinks he is Jesus Christ!

    Good riddance I say. The sport is bigger than Novak.

    • JustBitchy says:

      Elvie, JM is a tool. Always was his recent behavior cements this status. I wonder if LaCoste is looking to find the right clause in contract vis a vis Novak behavior-to be able to get out of contract without paying him. ?

      • Elvie says:

        It will be interesting! I guess Lacoste just renewed their deal in September for 4 years. We all knew he was an anti-vaxxer in September, but Lacoste wanted to sponsor the first male tennis player to reach 21 slam wins and now that might be in Jeopardy so they are going to investigate. I hope they drop him.

  8. Clara says:

    This is only slightly off topic but anyone wonder if Mindy Kaling will drop McEnroe from Never Have I Ever? He keeps making stupid and uneducated remarks (wasn’t the one who said Naomi Osaka should toughen up about not doing press?). She did replace Chrissy Teigen with Gigi Hadid in S2.

  9. Scout says:

    What is Novak’s reason for not getting vaccinated? He doesn’t believe the science? He has some medical issue? Can someone clarify this?

  10. Ninks says:

    I can’t see him getting vaccinated now. To climb down from his moral high horse would be too humiliating for him. It’s not in his mentality to give in or admit defeat – it’s what has made him one of the all time great players.

    I have no idea why the French minister ever said that he’d be welcome in France without the vaccine, Macron has been very vocal about is pro-vaccination stance. A lot can change between now and the summer, but it will be interesting to see if Wimbledon will welcome him or if they will enforce a vaccine mandate. If it’s the only major he’s welcome at, he’s going to become (even more of) a lightening rod for controversy and they might decide it’s not worth dealing with it during the tournament.

    • dc says:

      However, to give up his ambition to win more Grand Slams would be a hard pill for him to swallow. What other goal has he got, if not getting more Grand Slams than his rivals??? What would he do? Retire and play golf?? He doesn’t need the money, altho he might lose a few sponsors. I think he’ll try to “negotiate” with Roland Garros to be allowed to enter France & play. Either that or be vaccinated.

  11. Roo says:

    It burns my biscuits through he’s gotten away with this for so long! Imagine if Serena took his position and did what he did! Or Naomi Osaka. The press would have massacred them. His privilege is infuriating.

  12. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    I freely admit I would rather have extensive dental work with no anesthesia all day long than watch a match with this man baby whining his way thru.
    As far as McEnroe? He should sit down and shut up. He wasn’t that good of a player to begin with and his commentary on matches isn’t any better.
    I prefer watching unranked or low ranked players anyway because they try harder and are more entertaining

  13. Sushiroll says:

    Can we PLEASE stop talking about this massive tool. He’s about as interesting as a colostomy bag.

  14. TrixC says:

    Even if he claimed he’d had the vaccination I’m not sure I would believe him. I’m pretty sure he has people who would help him falsify the records.

    • phlyfiremama says:

      And there is the problem: based on his past history, how in the heck could anybody know for sure that he didn’t do just that?? I would imagine they could make him submit to a blood test to determine antibody levels, although antibody levels don’t mean crap for omicron~protection against omicron is coming from the T-cell memory cells response, NOT the antibodies.

  15. IrishThistle says:

    With all this extra free time he should finally be able to conclude his own research.

  16. Aimee says:

    The only way I’d believe he got vaccinated is if it’s televised. Even then I’d be skeptical.

    • A. Key says:

      Yeah, I assume he’ll pay someone off and fake that vaccination certificate. Or get someone to take the vaccine for him. There’s lots of ways, especially in the Balkans.

  17. Eleonora says:

    Go France!

  18. Annetommy says:

    McEnroe was a terrific player (70 plus singles titles and 70 plus doubles titles don’t lie) and I like his Wimbledon punditry. Though I often hated his behaviour. But this take is nonsense. I hope France refuses to let any unvaccinated players participate.

  19. Monette says:

    He will get vaccinated if he can’t play. Because not playing means No Money.
    And everything begins and stops at Money.
    I’ve seen it with anti-vaxxers around me. They refused to get vaccinated until it affected their income. They got vaxxed the next day. Principles be damned.
    If he can’t play in the US and in France, all the sycophants that whisper in his ear will beg him to get vaxxed. He makes them money. If he can’t play and make money they’ll Make him get vaxxed.

  20. one of the Marys says:

    Whatever happens I only hope his father continues to speak out for our entertainment 😝😝😝

  21. Lauren Too says:

    France approved yesterday or today a reinforced version of the EU vaccination QR code. Unvaccinated people cannot basically do anything. To allow Djokovic in the country would have been a horrible pr move.

  22. ML says:

    Vive la France!
    I read the above links (Guardian, BBC) in the comments, and found his diagnosis of a “celiac allergy ” really disturbing. It took me about 10 years to get diagnosed as gluten intolerant/ potentially celiac disease. First, DO NOT give up gluten until you do the following: If you suspect you have issues with gluten, get a DNA test!!! If you don’t have the genes, it’s something else. Next, get your blood tested for antibodies, iron, b12 and fat-absorbed vitamins (A,D E,K). If members of your family have celiac disease, diabetes, lupus or sjogren’s diease, then you’re at a higher risk. DO NOT pick up a piece of bread to see if you feel weak.

    • Desdemona says:

      I saw it too the other day… I was astonished with the so-called “doctor” and the piece of bread and feeling weak…

  23. jferber says:

    I read that Novak has always been a whiner and cry baby who broke rules from Day 1. He pretended injury in his younger years rather than lose so the game was stopped. He would request a bathroom break, then take a shower and change his shirt, all while the other player was standing in the hot sun waiting for him. He was never punished for his B.S. (that’s how to grow a rule-breaking asshole) and here we are.

  24. khaveman says:

    If I was Lacoste I would have dropped him after him leaving Australia. Have a theory that the staunch anti-vaxx want an ultimatum like this so they can blame the rule and not look like they “decided” on their own. Like, “I had to make a living…” blah blah

  25. E. in Paris says:

    I’m French. Our media just announced that Lacoste has “invited” him to have a chat regarding what happenned in Australia.
    Guess who is going to be dropped? NovaXX the liar

  26. Izzy says:

    The French sports minister should have stayed in her lane. She does not decide public health or immigration policies, nor does she get to arbitrarily override them.

  27. msd says:

    His reckless behaviour while he was positive with Covid has done the most damage, imo. It’s been somewhat overshadowed as the case dragged on and got political but that confession was … bad, really really bad. Even people who supported his ‘choice’ couldn’t defend it. He didn’t isolate while he was waiting for a PCR result even though he knew he’d been exposed at a basketball game, didn’t isolate even when he knew he had it, and didn’t try to correct anything by notifying contacts afterwards, including a whole bunch of kids. We’re two years in: no f*cking excuse. The moment that happened he should have withdrawn and gone home to ‘reflect’. But he just had to keep going beyond all sense and reason even though the Aussie gov wasn’t going to give up. The option that he pretended to have Covid to get into Australia is better than that.

    Novak doesn’t seem to have anyone around him who talks straight, certainly not his family. Or he just doesn’t listen to anyone else.