Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley responds publicly to Novak Djokovic saga

Tennis Australia’s boss has defended its handling of the Novak Djokovic saga, as he made a telling admission about the world No. 1.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA -JANUARY 9TH, 2022: Interview with CEO of Tennis Australia Craig Tiley at Melbourne Park, talking about the Novak Djokovic Covid and Visa story. Picture : Nicki Connolly

Tennis Australia (TA) boss Craig Tiley has addressed the Novak Djokovic saga publicly, refusing to get into a blame game over the situation, while admitting he would like the world No. 1 play the Australian Open.

TA has come under fire after it emerged it incorrectly informed unvaccinated players they could enter Australia if they had contracted Covid in the last six months.

That is despite the Federal Government informing Tennis Australia prior infections were not covered in its guidelines for medical exemptions. Letters from Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt sent to TA in November allegedly show the governing body was aware of this caveat before giving players advice.

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Court documents submitted by Djokovic’s legal team revealed he had tested positive to Covid on December 16 and had used the positive test to obtain a vaccine exemption.

Tiley first addressed the ongoing controversy in a leaked internal video directed to TA staff, saying the organisation has “done an unbelievable job” in getting everything together for the grand slam under “very difficult” circumstances.

Now Tiley, who is also the tournament director of the Australian Open, has publicly responded to the situation in a brief TV appearance.

In an interview with Channel 9’s Clint Stanaway, Tiley said TA was “constantly seeking clarity” over the exemption rules while dealing with “plenty of contradictory information”.

“From the beginning on this journey we have always stated and said that what is of absolute priority is the safety of Australians, anyone coming in from overseas,” he said.

Craig Tiley says Tennis Australia received conflicting advice over exemptions. Picture : Nicki Connolly

“That’s why we went on a journey of vaccination for everyone coming in, and actually, during the US Open 50 per cent of the playing group was vaccinated and today it is more than 97 per cent.

“However, on the course of this journey, as the introduction of medical exemptions were proceeded with, there was plenty of contradictory information, plenty of conflicting information, and we were constantly seeking clarity from day one to ensure that we did

the right thing and we were able to bring the players into the country again.”

Tiley refused to enter into a blame game but suggested TA had received “conflicting information” from the Victorian and Federal governments.

“We worked closely with the Victorian government to ensure there were two panels that only a small handful of people had to go through in order for them to be exempt,” he said.

“And that was done and managed through the state government.”

Tiley revealed TA had been in contact the Department of Home Affairs, which sent Djokovic correspondence indicating informing his Australian Travel Declaration appeared to meet the requirements.

“We are not going to lay the blame on anyone,” Tiley said.

Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley with Novak Djokovic. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“All I can say is the there was much conflicting information, the whole time. Every single week we were talking to Home Affairs, all parts of government to ensure that we were doing the right thing and we were on the right process with these exemptions, but knowing also that everyone coming had to be vaccinated.

“The conflicting information and the contradicting information we received was because of the changing environment.

“I’m not going to blame anyone, all I will say is we know what we know, we know what we have in front of us and will do the best job we can.”

When asked if he would like Djokovic to contest the Australian Open, Tiley responded: “I would like to see him play the Australian Open, yes.”

Djokovic’s case will be heard in the Federal Court on Monday after a bid by Home Affairs to delay proceedings by two days was rejected.