Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley should resign after failed bid to get Novak Djokovic around Covid rules

When the Victorian government announced a vaccination mandate last year, all sports fell into line. But TA boss Craig Tiley sought a loophole.

Craig Tiley owes Australia an apology … and his resignation.

As the Novak Djokovic saga finally reaches an end point just in time for the Australian Open, the immediate commencement of matches doesn’t suddenly exonerate anyone else of blame or criticism.

And the buck starts and stops with Tiley and his board.

This is a victory for fairness over fame, proving that big names who so often bend the system out of shape don’t always get all they want.

Don’t believe all the chat about the Australian Open being under threat after this decision. It is one of many empty scare tactics that clouded the already murky waters of this whole unsavoury affair.

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Common sense somehow wriggled its way through a warped system to get there in the end, not that any party has cause to celebrate because the whole process has been a shambles.

When the Victorian government announced a vaccination mandate last year, demanding sportspeople much like teachers, health workers and other professionals in various industries operate under new protocols, they all fell into line.

Carlton AFL footballer Liam Jones quit the AFL and headed to Queensland rather than get the jab.

Melbourne Storm NRL forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona remains unvaccinated and may not play again.

Get the jab or catch the cab. It’s that simple. Everyone knew that anything between these two extremes is a living nightmare, but Tennis Australia over-reached.

Tiley sought a loophole.

Nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic with Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley.

He knew, as we all did, that the world No.1 Djokovic was a vocal anti-vaxxer who wouldn’t get the jab.

Other vaccine hesitant stars like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev all accepted vaccination was the way forward and the easiest way to guarantee they could freely travel the world to keep their million dollar careers.

Within months the tour vaccination rate climbed from about 50 per cent to 97 per cent.

The policy worked. They all wanted to come to Australia and play in the best Grand Slam of the year.

But Djokovic, just as he did in 2020, thought he was bigger than the pandemic, and Tiley made him bigger than the Australian Open.

He gambled on finding a way to allow Djokovic to have his cake and eat it too.

The medical exemption wasn’t developed for the lowly ranked doubles players or Croatian coach we now know didn’t get jabbed – it was the Djoker card.

Tiley plucked one from his deck and hoped no one would call his bluff.

But after two years of pain and suffering for everyday Australians, the Federal Government and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke rightly drew a line in the sand.

You can argue about the process to get to this point, but the result is what the majority of Australians who have endured hardships through this pandemic agree is the right action.

Now Tiley’s champion, the star of his multimillion-dollar show, is leaving Australia embarrassed and ridiculed.

From the moment he landed late on January 5 til his final deportation will probably go down as the toughest and most humiliating experiences of his life.

Novak Djokovic is out of the Australian Open. Picture: Michael Klein

Who will Djokovic blame for this mess?

He’s too stubborn to point the finger at himself even though he could’ve avoided the problem by doing what 97 per cent of his colleagues have done.

There’s been endless leaked emails over this past fortnight detailing conversations between governments and TA – it will be interesting to see if Djokovic’s camp ever release private communications they had with Tiley and Tennis Australia.

What a story they would tell.

Tiley should save himself future embarrassment and tell us all now.

Australia deserves to know the truth. The world deserves to know if Djokovic was hoodwinked and if Tiley or TA sold him on a grand plan to sneak him in and out so he would win his historic 21st grand slam in Melbourne.

It’s the least he could do for his role in one of the biggest sporting scandals of this century that has humiliated a champion and brought global ridicule to Australia.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC COVID SAGA TIMELINE

2020

APRIL

Djokovic makes clear his stance that he’s publicly opposed to vaccination, and “wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel”.

JUNE

He’s roundly criticised for organising his own tournament, the Adria Tour – which is cut short when he and other players,  including Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, test positive to Covid-19.

2021

OCTOBER

Victorian authorities confirm that all professional athletes must be double-vaccinated to gain entry into Australia.

DECEMBER

December 10

The deadline for a medical exemption to be submitted to Tennis Australia passes.

December 14

Djokovic attends a basketball match in Belgrade where numerous people subsequently test positive for Covid-19.

December 16

An important day. Djokovic claims to test negative on a Rapid Antigen Test, while also taking a PCR test – the results of which are reportedly returned at 8.19pm. Under Serbian rules, Djokovic’s 14-day self-isolation begins. Earlier, he attends an event to launch a new stamp with his picture on it.

December 17

Djokovic is pictured at an awards ceremony at the Novak Tennis Academy in Belgrade, where he mingles with children. An asymptomatic Djokovic says he returned a negative RAT test prior to the event, and didn’t learn of his positive PCR test result until later.

December 18

Conducts a 33-minute interview with French newspaper L'Equipe in Belgrade, posing maskless in a photoshoot – a decision he says as “an error in judgment”. Returns home to complete the required isolation. Later, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic says if Djokovic attended events while positive he had “clearly violated the rules”.

December 22

Returns a negative Covid-19 PCR test in Belgrade.

December 25

Having cleared isolation following his negative test, Djokovic is filmed pictured separately with handball player Petar Djordjic in Belgrade.

December 30

Djokovic is granted permission by Tennis Australia to play the Australian Open

December 31

Djokovic is spotted training on hardcourts in Marbella, Spain, in a clue that he’s deep in preparations for the Australian Open.

2022

January 1

Djokovic’s Australian Travel Declaration is completed – by his agent, he later claims. In it, he declares he’s had no travel in the prior 14 days and that he is unvaccinated against Covid-19 but has a medical exemption.

January 4

Reveals on Instagram he has received "exemption permission" to enter Australia.

January 6

Arrives in Melbourne and is sensationally detained and interviewed by border officials, with his visa cancelled.

January 10

Djokovic has a huge win in Federal Court, winning his appeal against deportation with Judge Kelly throwing out Djokovic’s visa cancellation. Later, he enjoys a midnight training session at Rod Laver Arena. Meanwhile, a press conference with Djokovic’s family comes to a sudden end after they refuse to clarify Djokovic’s movements in relation to his December 16 positive result.

January 11

A free man, Djokovic takes to Rod Laver Arena for a closed practice session.

January 12

Djokovic moves to dispel ‘misinformation’ in a lengthy Instagram post as his legal team provides further evidence to support his case – prompting another 24-hour delay in decision-making by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.

January 14

Djokovic has his visa cancelled for a second time, as Immigration Minister Alex Hawke invoked his discretionary powers. Djokovic launches appeal.

January 16

Djokovic's appeal to Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's decision to cancel the Serbia star's Australian visa is upheld. The world no.1 is deported and leaves the country on a plane to Dubai.