“I had death threats and had to be under security” – Australian Open director on the controversial Novak Djokovic deportation in 2022
The Australian Open's director, Craig Tiley, recently talked about Novak Djokovic's highly disputed deportation from Australia in 2022.
Djokovic was evicted from Down Under last year owing to COVID-19 visa restrictions. He had entered the country without being vaccinated against the coronavirus. The authorities in Australia had remarked that the Serb didn't comply with the rules in place during the pandemic.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner's fans were livid with the Australian Open over his eviction and held public protests against the tournament.
Craig Tiley revisited living through some of the most tense days of his leadership career during a recent episode of the Rock n Roll Tennis podcast.
Tiley revealed that he received death threats during the 2022 Australian Open but was confident about his choices.
"Well, I had death threats and had to be under security but I think, again, it’s internal, self-talk and you have a choice on what that self-talk is. If I’m making a difference and making tough decisions, there’s going to be some criticism… you know we’re not running a hotel, we’re not there to please everyone," he said.
Tiley was content with how things turned out in 2022, despite the challenges COVID-19 had brought.
"We were in a state where there were 270 days of lockdown. We were the first Major sporting event to fly athletes from around the world into one city... we were still able to deliver the event and the next year, we started the event on the cusp of Omicron, which was the new variant," he added.
Australia's then Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt had remarked Djokovic was neither vaccinated nor had a valid medical exemption.
"There were a whole bunch of different views at that time. At that point, I felt for Novak [Djokovic] you know because he was someone who did what he thought was the right thing to do based on the paperwork that he had in front of them and ended up coming to the country, then being removed by one of the ministers," Tiley elaborated on the Serb's situation.
"Once Novak Djokovic left and the event started, of course, I got the blame" - Craig Tiley
Novak Djokovic had approached the Australian Federal Court in a bid to overturn Greg Hunt's decision but the court denied the Serb a chance to compete at the Australian Open last year.
Tiley further talked about being held responsible for the Serb's deportation and also expressed his joy as no player competing at the Melbourne Major criticized the authorities.
"So once Novak left and the event started, of course, I got the blame. But the one thing that I was most proud of during that tough time in 2022 in running the Open, as much as there were attempts to make players say negative things, not one of them in that two-week period, made any criticism of the Australian Open," Tiley said.
"We had to bring players under all sorts of medical conditions and vaccination conditions in the country. That created a whole set of complications primarily because no one really had any clarity on exactly what was required and then there had to be someone to blame," Tiley concluded.