"If you are a foreign tennis player or any foreign athlete, this is about your responsibility to the community that welcomes you," Martin Pakula, Victoria Minister of Sport, told reporters. , where the Australian Open takes place, in Melbourne.

"It is for this reason that we are asking these international tennis stars to abide by the same rules as the people of the state of Victoria. This is not about blackmail, it is about making sure that the community of the inhabitants of the state is protected ", he concluded.

The organizers of the Australian Open confirmed 10 days ago that all players playing the tournament should be vaccinated against Covid-19, increasing the pressure on the world No.1, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, nine times titled in Melbourne and who refuses to say if he is vaccinated or not.

Sunday, the father of the player, who could clinch a historic 21st Grand Slam title in Melbourne, estimated that his son would "probably not" participate in the Australian Open, criticizing a "blackmail" from the organizers.

Srdjan Djokovic also defended his son's "exclusive and personal right" to be vaccinated or not, and claimed that even he did not know if "Nole" was vaccinated against Covid-19.

Asked Saturday after his defeat in the semi-finals at the Turin Masters, Djokovic has still not commented on his possible participation in the Australian Open.

"We'll see, we'll just wait and see" what we do, he simply said at a press conference.

For the 2021 edition of the Australian Open, scheduled for February instead of January, the players and their coaches had to observe a quarantine of two weeks in hotels.

The spectator gauge had been set at 30,000 per day, or 50% of the capacity, and during the tournament, a five-day confinement was decreed in the state of Victoria.

Martin Pakula (c.), Minister of Sport for the Australian state of Victoria, announces the cancellation of the 2021 edition of the Australian Formula 1 GP due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Melbourne, July 6, 2021 . William WEST AFP

In Australia, authorities announced on Sunday the detection of the Omicron variant in two vaccinated passengers from southern Africa.

Australia recently lifted the ban for its vaccinated nationals to travel abroad without permission and is due to open by the end of the year to skilled workers and international students its borders, which have been closed for more than 18 months.

© 2021 AFP