Dr Peter Larkins says Tennis Australia’s Covid testing policy at the Aus Open threatens Victorians

Selfish tennis players putting money before safety together with a flawed testing regime has prompted one of the country’s leading sports medical experts to issue a serious warning.

The Australian Open’s voluntary Covid testing policy has been declared a threat to the Victorian community by one of the country’s leading sports medical experts.

Players have been given 75 million reasons – total prize money for the Grand Slam – to either bin the rapid-antigen tests they are provided daily or hide positive readings in a bizarre policy that stunned Dr Peter Larkins.

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Multiple stars have admitted they are not testing themselves and world No.3 Alexander Zverev claimed several players are stepping on to the court with the virus.

“To me it’s a loophole that the players can exploit,” Larkins told News Corp on Friday.

“Clearly, a player who’s still in the tournament is not going to declare they’re Covid positive.

“You get $100,000 for losing the first round, and every round you’re tripling that.

“I did a double take when players said they’re not testing. I’m going, ‘Where’s the accountability to the organisers and indeed to the medical panel?’

“I thought the medical panel’s job was to make sure it was a Covid-free event.”

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Tennis Australia has been slammed over its Aus Open Covid testing policy.

Larkins stressed that he had faith the majority of players would do the right thing because he trusted the integrity of most elite athletes.

But with so much cash on the line, he said it was open to exploitation to those “that are dodgy and have their own pecuniary interests”.

“The domino effect is the potential to infect a fellow player or official or ball boy or whoever, and so the risk to other people is high,” Larkins said.

“Beyond the immediate AO family it’s the Victorian community if they’re turning up at Crown restaurants and you’re at the next table.

“Traditionally the tennis players love to turn up at the fancy restaurants and show off – they’ve been doing that for 30 years. Why would we want to have a spreader out there?

“The threat is if – and I put ‘if’ in capitals – we do have any player (positive) they’re free to go wherever they like.

“You go to the toilet together and they’re standing next to you having a little cough.”

Players who record a positive RAT must isolate and undergo a PCR test, with confirmation they have virus forcing them to forfeit their next match.

But Larkins said the system was flawed.

“They’re missing the first step,” he said.

“You can’t enact the second step if you’re allowing a voluntary declaration on the first step and you’re relying on an honesty system when there’s other factors at play that would tempt players to perhaps not declare,” he said.

Alexander Zverev says some Australian Open players are taking the court with Covid. Picture: Getty Images

Larkins said Zverev’s explosive comments were an “eye opener” for him.

The world No.3 has placed himself in a tight bubble although even Aussie wildcard Maddison Inglis said she was only testing herself weekly instead of each day.

“The surprise factor was me was how come we’ve been so vigilant and diligent over the course of the preparation, and now that the event is on we’re saying, ‘Oh well, you test yourselves if you want and if you’ve got Covid we won’t know about it if you don’t tell us’,” Larkins said.

“We’re trying to control this Omicron. The hospitals are full, none of the surgeons are working – there’s no elective surgery – so the healthcare system is under incredible strain because Omicron is so virulent and taking up so much space in the community.

“Everyone is saying Omicron is a mild virus – Omicron is about the same strength as Alfa, the original virus.

Dr Peter Larkins fears the Aus Open’s ‘honesty’ policy on Covid testing is endangering Victorians.

“All the vaccines were developed for the Alfa variant, and Alfa was something we were scared of.

“Omicron is not to be underestimated. There are people in ICU and on ventilators today. For an athlete to get Covid it can have a significant effect on their oxygen capacity and performance.

“To me it’s quite selfish for a player not to be testing for their own sake and secondly to hide it if they were (positive).

“It’s a total honesty system and whilst athletes have a duty of care to each other in one sense, clearly the stakes are pretty high.

“You’re not going to declare yourself ineligible – at the minimum it’s a several hundred thousand dollar decision.”

Originally published as Dr Peter Larkins says Tennis Australia’s Covid testing policy at the Aus Open threatens Victorians