• Expelled from Australia and banned from playing the Open due to his non-vaccination against Covid-19, then excluded from ATP tournaments in the United States, Novak Djokovic seems to have fully returned to the path of the courts.

  • The world number one is currently playing the second round of Roland-Garros.

    A presence that raises questions for some.

    Did he have preferential treatment to be able to participate without a vaccine?

  • In reality, no French law can prevent him from competing.

The second week of the Roland-Garros tournament is in full swing, and the greatest players are there.

A presence makes noise, that of one of the greatest tennis players: Novak Djokovic.

His stubbornness in refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 earned him the exclusion of several tournaments during the season.

And the attribution of the nickname "Novax Djocovid" on social networks.

His presence on Parisian clay raises many questions.

Did the Serbian finally get vaccinated?

Even though he had said he was "ready to pay the price" of not going to the tournament rather than receiving the injections.

No, this is not the case.

So did he have a pass to be able to play without a vaccine?

20 Minutes

takes stock.

FAKE OFF

The world number 1 had created controversy by being excluded from the Australian Open last January.

He was expelled from the territory for lack of vaccination.

His exemption certificate was rejected by the health authorities, who withdrew his visa.

The Serbian was then unable to take part in several ATP tournaments, since the United States prohibits entry into their territory to people who cannot present proof of valid vaccination.

Today, Novak Djokovic is indeed playing the second round of Roland-Garros.

He won his first match on the Philippe-Chatrier court, three sets to nil, against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.

Tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said that "as things stand, nothing stands in the way of Djokovic's participation" at a March 16 press conference.

Indeed, two days earlier, France lifted restrictions in almost all public spaces – apart from hospitals, retirement homes and public transport – which means the player, unvaccinated, is allowed to appear. on the courts.

The only restriction that could then have applied is that of entry into the territory.

However, the government specifies that for countries classified as “green”, that is to say those which represent the least epidemic risk, there is only “the obligation to present a negative test”.

Serbia is part of this list, and the player was therefore not subject to any vaccination obligation.

The president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, had nevertheless specified that the rules could be brought to evolve.

“There is still a virus circulating and we must be careful.

If things were to happen again and the government took new measures, we would not be excluded from these measures,” he explained.

Roland-Garros is not the only tournament in which the Serb has been able to participate since the beginning of 2022. He has played in Dubai, Monte-Carlo, the Serbian Open, Madrid, as well as in Rome.

These different countries also do not apply any particular restrictions for people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

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  • Sport

  • Covid-19

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid vaccine

  • Roland Garros 2022

  • Novak Djokovic

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