On Djokovic Not Being Allowed To Do His Job While Russian Players Are

We still hadn't solved the disappearance of Peng Shuai when we became focused on a detention centre in a different country on a different continent and another player. Djokovic should never have been placed into an immigration detention centre. He was in Australia, for a few weeks only, to do a job, that of playing tennis and, hopefully, winning a Grand Slam! Allowed in, initially, on an exemption given by the Australian Open, the whole episode around him soon became a mess because border control didn't wish to recognize that exception so they cancelled his visa. First time round, Djokovic won his case to remain and play the GS, but this ruling upset Immigration Minister, Alex Hawke who waded in and recancelled his visa. Then a federal court backed that up by upholding this government decision. 

Alex Hawke and the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison represent the conservative / nationalistic party which is confusingly called the 'Liberal Party of Australia' because, in fact, they are Conservatives who are in constant coalition with the National Party. They support anti-Muslim and anti-immigration views as well as anti-LGBT+ stances. So are, in effect, ultra right. (So I don't think Australia will be giving me a wildcard into a tournament any time soon.🤔) 

The opposition party is the 'Labor Party' whose former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has criticised Morrison's handling of Djokovic's case. Rudd thinks Morrison should never have issued the visa in the first place if he wasn't prepared to stand by his decision. Then this circus could have been avoided.

So, Djokovic lost his case and had to leave the country on some nebulous point that he would cause civil unrest. What powers he must have to bring that about! He is wealthy and famous, but that powerful? Personally, I supported Djokovic and was pleasantly surprised when Kyrgios not only batted for Djokovic but was critical of Australia's handling of the case. Alize Cornet also came through for Djokovic adding a good point: Djokovic supports players but where are they when he needs support? Exactly so! 

Apart from not being able to play this year, another unacceptable consequence of cancelling Djokovic's visa is that he could face a 3 year ban from entering Australia. At the moment, the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has not ruled out anything. I sincerely hope that his visa will indeed be reinstated so he can play the AO next year! To ban him from coming to Australia for the next 3 years would be absolutely disgraceful. 

Why was it such a big deal? It's not just that Djokovic was number 1 (ATP) in the world. He is also a player who is chasing records which he's very capable of achieving! That's what we want in sport! He is someone who, if absent, makes it easier for a rival to win more easily. This then skews the records. For me, whoever the winner turned out to be at the AO in 2022 on the men's side, is not the true winner because he didn't have to play the best. It's one thing if the defending champion and the best in the world is unable to play due to injury, that happens. But if that's not the case, then the result isn't worth looking at! There are many things that can be put in place to protect the general public from C19 e.g. keeping the players in a hotel bubble which provides for all their needs. I stayed in the tournament hotel in Croatia which was wonderful and did, indeed, cater to my every need. I never left the premises (the practice and match courts were on the hotel premises.) 🙂🎾

Tennis is a sport that, like golf, is self-contained. The players do not need to have close contact. They play on opposite sides of the net. During breaks they sit on either side of the umpire's chair. In fact, I found that tennis players were very insular, preferring to remain in their little team world. So much so that they don't even make up their own minds who to play doubles with when approached. I know it's a competitive sport so things are different but that's why doubles is a great way to step back a little from the 🔥 of competition and play co-cooperatively with another player. Even better if that player comes from a different country so the insularity is broken still further. I was very keen to play doubles. Even thought of focusing on doubles only. I learned to play doubles with my mother and really enjoyed it! Just my luck that the player who wanted to play doubles with me was a young lad in the mixed doubles. Maybe a mixed tour would have been better for me. Men are less fussy. All I'm interested in is winning!👍And the guy feels the same. We don't have to have some great relationship first before playing doubles.

I look forward to Djokovic returning to the tour full time, especially in Grand Slams. We can see what harm can ensue if intolerance is allowed to exist. Like Putin, it doesn't stop there but can take an even worse turn that destroys compassion, understanding, empathy, respect and leads to inhumane treatment of fellow human beings. This desensitization can make war appear as though it's not such a big deal. We can see this by the appalling attitude of some ITF Russian players at an ITF tournament in Kazakhstan. German tennis player, Eva Lys commented on how Russian players at the tournament thought the situation in Ukraine is funny and dressed in the colours of the Russian flag! If ever there was a reason to outright ban all Russian players, this is it!

I think, this ITF example also shows that it was unacceptable, the height of insensitivity and a total lack of empathy to force the Ukrainian player Svitolina to compete against a Russian player, and so soon after the invasion while she was still in shock. Tennis is tough enough psychologically (ranked the toughest alongside boxing🥊) but she was asked to do something psychologically superhuman. It's just lucky that Svitolina won that match because I can't imagine the psychological trauma if the Russian player had been the victor. 

As we can see with our own eyes, the war in Ukraine is a catastrophic tragedy that should never have happened and is destroying lives and an entire nation. Most sports, from football to Formula One, have taken a strong stance on Russia, eg not allowing Russian sportsmen and women to participate in international events. In addition, football is ridding itself of Russian money/links such as Abramovich who now has to sell his Chelsea FC, while Formula One has cancelled its contract with the Russian Grand Prix and the drivers would have boycotted if they hadn't. This is sending a much stronger message to the world than tennis is, despite it being a high profile and influential sport. So far, the ITF, WTA and ATP are allowing Russian and Belarusian individuals to play under a neutral banner. The ITF has cancelled all ITF tournaments in the countries while the ATP/WTA have only suspended their tournament in Moscow in October. The ITF has suspended Russian and Belarusian teams from playing in various Team Tennis events. But this doesn't go far enough. Only an outright ban is enough because we have to stand with Ukraine, not only in their time of need but also to show that we are against invasion, violence, force, terrorism, and acts that dismiss the independence and sovereignty of a state. 

We need to reset. So many around the world have risen to the call for help and are donating money, clothes, food, toys, prams, as well as providing education, general assistance and interpreters. So many are travelling to the Ukraine to fight on the side of Ukraine and care for refugees as they cross the border. Let's remember this and become more gentle with each other. And let's do all we can to save Ukraine and end the war. But, at the same time, we mustn't turn a blind eye to what Putin has done. A strong message has to be sent that no country can invade another. And that once an agreement has been made, stick to it:

"In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the United States, Russia, and Britain committed “to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “to refrain from the threat or use of force” against the country." (Brookings)