By  Jürgen Fritz, Tue 11 Jan 2022, Cover: 9 News Australia-Screenshot

Did Novak Djokovic and Tennis Australia work together to get the Serb to Australia unvaccinated? What is certain is that there was obviously a Lex Djokovic. But the whole thing goes much deeper than that. Much of it smells of systematic fraud, to say the least.

Since the beginning of November, Craig Tiley has been desperate to find a way to get Djokovic to the Australian Open unvaccinated

Whether this rule that a missing vaccination can be replaced by a recovery from a SARS-CoV-2 infection just overcome was in principle legal at all is highly questionable and disputed. The Australian government clearly states that this regulation only applied to Australians, but not to non-Australians. However, the tournament management of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia, the South African tennis manager Craig Tiley is the head of both, probably passed the information on differently to the ATP (Association of tennis professionals), who then informed the players differently.

According to ZDF, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt wrote to Tiley on 29 November that people recently infected with Corona would not be allowed into the country. And that the Border Agency had been instructed to only grant quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated people. Tiley is said to have been working on this since 10 November, writing to all possible agencies on how to allow unvaccinated players to enter the country via exemptions. His goal was clear: Novak Djokovic should definitely take part in the Australian Open from 17 January, and Tiley must not have liked the answer of the Australian Health Minister.

He probably liked much better what Brett Sutton, the health minister of Victoria, the state where the Australian Open takes place, said on 2 December. Anyone who had had a COVID-19 infection in the past six months and could provide sufficient proof would be allowed to enter the country and would be exempted from quarantine. And so I guess Tiley passed it on to the ATP, who then informed the players accordingly. The answer of the Australian Minister of Health, which he did not like, Tiley probably simply blanked out or ignored.

Why the Australian Open tournament management and Tennis Australia have a great interest in Djokovic being able to play there

That the Australian Open and Tennis Australia have a massive financial interest in Djokovic, the nine-time AO champion and 20-time Grand Slam winner, playing at the Australian Open is clear and there is nothing wrong with that. The difference between the world No. 1 playing or not is likely to be in the eight-figure range financially for the tournament and the federation. And the tournament has already suffered massively from the pandemic in 2021.

The loss will probably be at least 100 million Australian dollars (about 65 million euros), Craig Tiley said in February 2021: „But it could be even more. The whole thing is very hard for us. We have to get to our reserves.“ There was even speculation eleven months ago that the shortfall could amount to 140 million Australian dollars (90 million euros), not least because of the five-day lockdown in the middle of the tournament. So the tournament and the federation have their backs to the wall financially. They need high revenues again in 2022 to make up for the high losses from 2021.

And the one big draw, Roger Federer, who was voted the world’s most popular player by the ATP 19 times in a row from 2003 to 2021, has been cancelling the Australian Open for some time. The 40-year-old has been injured most of the time for two years, had to have knee surgery three times and will miss this year’s AO, that has been clear for a long time.

Rafael Nadal has also been injured for many months but could be reasonably fit in time for the tournament. The Spaniard won the Melbourne Summerset (ATP 250) in Melbourne on Sunday in his first appearance at an official tournament in five months and will probably definitely compete at the AO.

But the third and arguably biggest draw of all at the moment is Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, seven-time Player of the Year, nine-time AO champion and defending champion, the king of the Australian Open. Whether he plays or not is likely to make a financial difference in the eight-figure range for the tournament and association coffers, as mentioned. Therefore, it is of the utmost interest that Djokovic is allowed to enter Australia. However, Djokovic refuses to be vaccinated and obviously rejects any COVID-19 vaccination. In this respect, it would be only natural to look for „solutions“ in this situation. And this „solution“ could have looked like this.

How the Lex Djokovic and the SARS-CoV-2 infection were perfectly aligned

Mind you, I am not suggesting that Djokovic, the Australian Open and Tennis Australia committed systematic fraud here. I’m just asking: if someone had intended such a fraud, how do you think they would have gone about it?

The „solution“ to the problem could have been done like this, for example: Extend the deadline of the already questionable rule, which is probably based on a misinterpretation of the wording of the law, that non-Australians are allowed to enter the country without vaccination. You extend the deadline for the player you really want to get into Australia from 10 December to 30 December 2021, and then give him an exemption from Tennis Australia and the Victorian government, of course approved by medical boards.

This would allow the player to finish the 2021 season, which ran until 5 December 2021, in peace and quiet, and then conveniently get infected between 6 December and 16 December, so that the 14-day isolation and full recovery until 30 December can be observed.

And lo and behold, exactly on 16 December, a PCR test on Djokovic, for whom this exemption was specially created, showed positive, at least that is Djokovic’s claim, although even that is now questionable. In the meantime, there are new reports that one can look up the test from 16 December via the source code and that it was not positive at all.

Until January, Djokovic never made public his alleged infection from mid-December

But one thing is certain: Djokovic says nothing about the fact that he had just received a positive test result on 16 December. Nor does he say anything about it on 17 December. Nor on 18 December, nor on 19 December, nor on 20 December, and so on. He never says anything about it until the end of 2021, until the beginning of 2022. Even on 4 January, when Djokovic suddenly announces that he is on his way to Melbourne with a „medical exemption“, he says nothing about his infection, which occurred precisely on 16 December.

He also does not say that he has not been vaccinated, that is nobody’s business and is „his private affair“. He has an „exemption“ and this information should be enough. Details of why and how this exemption came about were nobody’s business. Tiley, the head of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia, also did not want to comment on this.

In Australia, Djokovic, whose vaccination status is a private matter and who has an exemption, the origin of which is also nobody’s business, wants to play in order to break Federer’s and Nadal’s record. And to do that, the entry rules have to be circumvented somehow. So the exemption from the tournament management and Tennis Australia, and the spot-on infection, came just at the right time.

God’s chosen one with the „Serb gene“ that makes him immune to COVID-19

The Serb may have prayed very, very hard for it. He believes that through intensive prayer, even the most poisonous food and water can be made completely non-toxic, and can even be made into healing food and water. The molecules sense the thoughts and emotions one has and absorb them, according to Djokovic’s assurance, whom his family considers to be one of God’s chosen ones. Chosen for what? Probably to demonstrate to the whole world the superiority of the Serbs, who are immune to SARS-CoV-2, as a friend of Djokovic’s, a lung doctor, explains on television. The Serbs have a „lion gene“ that makes them immune to COVID-19.

Perhaps Novak himself, like his family, considers himself chosen by God, like Jesus, but we don’t know. He himself does not say anything like that publicly – that would not be good PR – but he does not contradict his parents and his brother either. And his father said these days: Jesus was also crucified, just like Novak. Novak is Serbia and Serbia is Novak.

A special player and a special person, although the latter in a questionable way

In any case, Novak Djokovic is something special, both as a player and as a person. As a player, he is without question outstanding, the best in the world, perhaps even the best of all time. He has a very good chance of beating even Federer and Nadal, who are six and one year older than him, respectively, and who are not as physically fit as the 34.6-year-old, who for more than a decade has meticulously geared his entire lifestyle (eating, drinking, sleeping, meditating, praying …) to tennis and his personal success like no other. Novak is also something special as a person, whether positive or negative is debatable.

In any case, the impression can easily arise in this affair that Djokovic, the tournament management of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia (Craig Tiley is, as I said, the boss of both) have done a thing together here to get the unvaccinated Djokovic, who is a convinced opponent of vaccination, to Australia. Tiley makes no secret of the fact that he absolutely wants Djokovic to start at „his“ tournament. That’s probably why there was this Lex Djokovic. For him, the deadline was extended precisely from 10 to 30 December, and Djokovic became infected precisely on 16 December, so that the 14-day isolation and recovery period could be met exactly. Perhaps God personally helped everything fit so precisely. Certainly Djokovic prayed very hard that everything would happen just so.

Or maybe it was just the Serbian Ministry of Health that helped a little, certifying Djokovic’s positive PCR test on 16 December. The Corona regulations in Serbia stipulate a full two-week quarantine. Djokovic should have been in isolation until 30 December.

According to court documents, Djokovic had a second PCR test done on 22 December and it was negative. Nevertheless, the medical chief of Tennis Australia confirmed to Djokovic on 30 December that he had received an exemption. Two committees had allegedly decided independently of each other and without looking at the personal details.

But then more and more photos and film footage emerged that clearly convicted Djokovic

But the stupid thing is: Photos and film footage emerged, both from 16 December and from 17 December and also from 18 December, showing Djokovic not at all in isolation, but presenting himself everywhere in public and meeting many people, at receptions, honours, in his own tennis academy with many children and young people, whom he got very close to. And all this without a mask.

Then a photo shoot with the French sports newspaper L’Équipe, which wanted to crown him Sportsman of the Year. Now people in France were surprised to read that Djokovic claims he tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on 16 December. Because the photo shoot took place on 18 December 2021 and Novak apparently didn’t say a word about an infection at the time. And he was obviously not in isolation.

So, at the moment, it looks like Djokovic neither had an infection nor was in isolation in December 2021 and certainly is not vaccinated. Nevertheless, he entered Australia and then made the next mistake.

Djokovic made false statements on his visa application despite being explicitly told that this was a serious offence

Meanwhile, the next things were already coming out. Djokovic stated in the online form for the issuance of the visa that he had not travelled during these two weeks before entering Australia. But photos and reports prove he did stay in Belgrade, Serbia, his home, as well as in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain, his residence, where he trained and prepared for the Australian Open, during the period from 16 to 30 December. Thus – beyond the more than obvious suspicions and the massively well-founded suspicion of fraud – he most certainly made false statements in order to obtain the already very questionable visa.

And now things could get really uncomfortable for Novak Djokovic. Because he demonstrably made false statements in order to get the visa and thus be able to enter Australia. And this despite explicit instructions:

„Note: Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence. You may also be t to civil action if liable to a civil penalty for giving false or misleading information.“

Djokovic claimed he had not travelled for the 14 days before his flight to Australia. Yet he stayed in at least two different countries (Belgrade, Serbia and Marbella, Spain), of which there are pictures and film footage. And this during the time when he allegedly had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result and should have been in isolation for 14 days.

If someone had wanted to cheat, they could have tried it just like that

Mind you, I am not claiming that Djokovic committed systematic fraud here. That would, of course, have to be clarified in court and meticulously investigated and proven. I’m just saying that if someone had intended to commit such fraud, then it would probably have been done in exactly the same way. Of course, without being convicted by photos and false statements.

But if the idea for this fake infection had not already come to one on 16 December, but only at the end of December, then these things – appearances at receptions, honours, photo shoots etc. and the stay in three different countries within these 14 days – could of course no longer have been undone. And it would not be possible to postpone the deadline even further. With the 14 days of isolation, there would not have been enough time to travel to Australia, acclimatise and be ready for take-off on 17 January. Moreover, the Victorian government would probably not have tolerated such an extension of the deadline until well into January.

So it had to be 30 December and the latest possible date for the infection was consequently 16 December in order to exactly meet the 14-day isolation and recovery period. And lo and behold, it was precisely on 16 December that the virus arrived as if on cue. At least that is the claim of Novak Djokovic, who obviously thinks he is incredibly clever. So clever that he not only manages to beat all the other tennis players on the court, but also so clever that he thinks he can outsmart the whole world.

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