"Unbelievable, it was never about health" - American journalist on Australia's double standards towards Novak Djokovic
American journalist Kim Iversen has spoken out on Australia's hypocrisy towards Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian was deported from Australia ahead of this year's Australian Open and was also slapped with a three-year visa ban. He has had a rigid stance on not taking the COVID-19 vaccination, a decision that has resulted in him missing the US Open as well.
Over the past nine months, several people from various fields have voiced their support for the former World No. 1 and his beliefs, with Iversen being the latest. She took to social media to reprimand the Australian government for allowing cricketer Matthew Wade to compete despite testing positive for the coronavirus. Wade was given permission to take to the field for Australia's match against England in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Iversen addressed the double standards on Twitter, writing:
"Unbelievable. Australia letting a vaccinated guy who has tested POSITIVE for covid compete yet ban healthy Djokovic simply for not getting vaccinated. Time to revolt."
Unbelievable. Australia letting a vaccinated guy who has tested POSITIVE for covid compete yet ban healthy Djokovic simply for not getting vaccinated. Time to revolt. twitter.com/CristinaNcl/st…
She also called for "an immediate retraction" of the 21-time Grand Slam champion's visa ban.
"This should be cause for an immediate retraction of Djokovic’s 3 year ban. It was never about health, it was about compliance and control," she tweeted.
This should be cause for an immediate retraction of Djokovic’s 3 year ban. It was never about health, it was about compliance and control.
"The media has not been very nice to me because there is an agenda" - Novak Djokovic
Earlier this month, Novak Djokovic spoke out about his struggles this year during the vaccination scandal, while also criticizing the media for pushing an agenda against him.
In an interview with Guy Azriel of i24NEWS, the Serb spoke about his unvaccinated status and his freedom of choice.
"I stay true to my values and to things that I believe in and I believe in freedom of choice and I believe that everyone should have possibility to choose what they would to do their bodies, so I made my decision," he said.
The former World No. 1 also stated that the media was not being nice to him and alleged that they were peddling an agenda against him.
"On the other hand you know that the spotlight that you mentioned unfortunately this year it created a lot of negative spotlight. The media has not been very nice to me, but I kind of expected it because the media is not always so nice when there is an agenda in terms of strategy," he stated.