SPARTACUS OF THE NEW WORLD
Djokovic dad launches astonishing attack on Australian authorities, branding them ‘idiots’ who are treating his son like a prisoner
NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S dad yesterday claimed that his son has effectively been imprisoned by the Australian authorities in the row over a Covid-19 medical exemption.
The 34-year-old Serb is being detained at the Park Hotel, a state-run quarantine facility in Melbourne which has also housed asylum seekers, while awaiting the outcome of an appeal against the decision by the Australian Border Force (ABF) to cancel his entry visa and deport him.
Djokovic, who has spoken in the past about his opposition to vaccination, posted on social media before setting off for the Australian Open to say he had received “exemption permission” to enter the country – but the ABF refused to let him in, saying he had failed to provide appropriate evidence to justify the exemption.
And Djokovic’s father Srdjan said in an interview broadcast by Sky News that his son was being singled out unfairly and claimed he “is the Spartacus of the new world”.
He has also been compared to Jesus by his father who said Australia was trying to “crucify” the world No.1, who remains locked in hotel detention for Orthodox Christmas in Melbourne.
Srdjan Djokovic said: “Novak and his team filed the same documents as 25 other tennis players (who received exemptions) and they didn’t have any problems, just Novak.
“They wanted to humiliate him. They could have said ‘don’t come Novak’ and that would have been okay.
“But no, they wanted to humiliate him and they’re still keeping him in prison.
“He’s not in detention, he’s in prison. They took all of his stuff, even his wallet, they left him with just his phone and no change of clothes, nowhere to wash his face. Our pride is a prisoner of these idiots, shame on them, the whole free world together with Serbia should rise.
“This isn’t a battle for Serbia and Novak, it’s a battle for billions of people, for freedom of expression, for free speech, freedom of behaviour.
“Novak didn’t break any laws, just as seven billion people didn’t break any laws, they want to subdue us.
“Novak has become the symbol and a leader of the libertarian world, a world of poor and oppressed nations and people. “My son has shown that a small and heroic country like Serbia can boast one of the world’s all-time best tennis players and athletes.
“They can incarcerate him tonight, shackle him tomorrow, but truth is like water, as it always finds its way. Novak is the Spartacus of the new world that doesn’t tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy.
“Novak has shown you can achieve anything if you have dreams, and he shares these dreams with billions of people who look up to him.”
Djokovic will be forced to spend Orthodox Christmas
today alone in the hotel. Srdjan claimed he was being “held captive” and added: “Jesus was crucified on the cross but he is still alive among us.
“They are trying to crucify and belittle Novak and throw him to his knees.
“This has nothing to do with sports, this is a political agenda. Novak is the best player and the best athlete in the world, but several hundred million people from the West can’t stomach that.”
Tennis rival Rafa Nadal, however, yesterday told Djokovic he would have avoided all his “troubles” in Australia by getting vaccinated.
Reports Down Under claim the ABF has not accepted previously contracting Covid-19 in the past six months as a valid reason not to be vaccinated – unlike the two panels of doctors who initially granted the exemption.
Lawyers for the nine-time Australian Open champion are also seeking to move the 20-time Grand Slam winner to private accommodation with a tennis court to allow him to train before the Open starts on January 17.
World No.6 Nadal, who won his first ATP singles match since August in Melbourne yesterday, caught Covid-19 in Abu Dhabi last month.
And although Nadal admitted he felt “sorry” for his great rival, the Spaniard added: “But at the same time, he knew the conditions a lot of months ago, so he made his own decision.
“I believe in what the people who know about medicine say, and if the people say that we need to get vaccinated, we need to get the vaccine.
“That’s my point of view. I went through the Covid. I have been vaccinated twice. If you do this, you don’t have any problem to play here. That’s the only clear thing.
“There are rules, and if you don’t want to get the vaccine, then you can have some troubles.
“After a lot of people had been dying for two years, my feeling is the vaccine is the only way to stop this pandemic.”
Australian Prime Minister Morrison even indicated that
Djokovic’s public statement about the exemption had drawn him to the attention of the ABF. “One of the things that the Border Force does... is act on intelligence to direct their attention to potential arrivals,” he said. “When you get people making public statements about what they say they have and what they are going to do and what their claims are, they draw significant attention to themselves. “Anyone who does that, whether they’re a celebrity, a politician, a tennis player, a journalist, whoever does that, they can expect to be asked questions more than others before you come.”
They’re trying to crucify and belittle Novak and throw him to his knees
DJOKOVIC’S FATHER SRDJAN