Victorian Minister for Sport Martin Pakula has a simple message for tennis players ahead of the Australian Open: Get vaccinated, or you might not be allowed into the country.
The Grand Slam looks set to be the first major sporting event in Victoria featuring a large number of international athletes following the easing of restrictions and getting hundreds of tennis players into the country looms as a headache.
Last year, players were asked to undergo 14 days of quarantine, with many doing so begrudgingly.
Pakula has stated that the rules for players who are vaccinated will be very different to the rules for those who aren’t – and the latter may not be allowed into the country at all.
“We’re talking to the Commonwealth about what the Visa requirements are for people coming into the country, that’s going to be the first step,” Pakula told SEN’s Whateley.
“Last year, all of those players had to do their 14 days of quarantine. Right now there looks like there will be different rules for people who enter this country who are vaccinated as against unvaccinated and I don’t think the tennis will be any exception to that.
“Whether or not unvaccinated non-citizens are allowed in at all, that’s something that’s still to be determined in that national sense.
“I think if I was an ATP or WTA player, I’d be getting vaccinated. That’ll give them the best opportunity to play in the Australian Open with the more minimal restrictions that’ll be in place for those people.
“In terms of what rules apply for people to enter Australia, whether unvaccinated people are allowed in at all, I don’t the answer to that yet. That’s going to be the subject of discussion at national cabinet and among the federal cabinet … those rules are not set by state governments.”
Prominent tennis players Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev have been open in their vaccine hesitancy and all three are among the favourites to lift the cup.
The Victorian Government has made it mandatory for those going into work to be vaccinated across the state and those in attendance at the Australian Open will also likely need to show a vaccination certificate.
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