Victoria State Commissioner's reply to Novak Djokovic: "Definite No"

Novak Djokovic’s request asking for leeway in the quarantine rules for his colleagues in Melbourne has been rejected by the Victorian state authorities.

This reply comes a day after the world no. 1 sent a letter to Tennis Australia in which he outlined counter-proposals for the players who have been asked to mandatorily quarantine for 14 days after a couple of their co-passengers tested Covid-19 positive after arriving in Melbourne.

When enquired by local media, Emma Cassar, the Victorian Commissioner for Covid Quarantine said, “It’s a definite no from me. We’re not modifying our program.” She also added, “We understand that the 14 days is really tough. We are here to work with the players and Tennis Australia to make that as pleasant and not impact their training as much as possible, but we’re not taking risks on community safety.”

Cassar’s statements followed that of Daniel Andrews, the Premier for the state of Victoria. “The rules will not be changing, because the public health advice is where those rules came from,” he noted.

“People are free to provide lists of demands, but the answer is no. I know that there's been a bit of chatter from a number of players about the rules. Well, the rules apply to them as they apply to everybody else, and they were all briefed on that before they came, and that was the condition on which they came. There's no special treatment here. Because the virus doesn't treat you specially. So, neither do we.”

Novak Djokovic's letter creates another furore

The 17-time Grand Slam champion’s requests in his letter included early let-out from the 14-day quarantine if the players tested negative, food proportionate to the tournament and players’ stature and training equipment in each player’s room. In addition, Djokovic had also requested that the players be allowed to visit their coach or trainer if all parties tested negative for Covid-19. Lastly, he had also requested that the players be shifted to private housing from the hotels and be given courtside access to training.

Djokovic’s letter didn’t go all too well with the Australians who criticised the 33-year-old for being unable to understand the gravity of the situation. The angry crowd also sparked a trend with his name on Twitter.

Unlike his peers in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic is training in Adelaide along with other top-ranked players. The decision to separate them in such obvious rank and file has also not gone down well with certain players.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Lz8MqM