Joe Biden urged to remove barriers to Novak Djokovic entering the United States
US President Joe Biden has been asked to allow Novak Djokovic to enter the United States for the US Open.
Djokovic is currently facing the prospect of missing not only the US Open but the ATP 1000 events in Toronto and Mason.
The sticking point for Djokovic is his refusal to be vaccinated or on the flip side, the United States’ mandate that all visitors to the country arriving by air, must be vaccinated against COVID-19 with limited exceptions.
“Non-citizen, non-immigrant air travellers to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status prior to boarding an aeroplane to fly to the U.S.,” a recent statement issued by the White House said.
Djokovic has confirmed that he remains committed to not being vaccinated, and will require some form of exemption or a turnaround in the mandate.
“I’m not vaccinated and I’m not planning to get vaccinated,” Djokovic said. “So the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter [the] United States or exemption. I don’t know. I don’t think exemption is realistically possible. If that is [a] possibility, I don’t know what exemption would be about. I don’t know. I don’t have much answers there.”
Given his experience in Australia, when he was detained in questionable conditions, Djokovic is unlikely to attempt to enter the United States without clear assurances that he won’t meet a similar fate.
Djokovic has teased that he might be at the US Open after all, suggesting to Nick Kyrgios that he will make good on his promises of a post-Wimbledon dinner in New York.
Leading the latest calls for Joe Biden to act on what is a threat to the integrity of the US Open as the fourth Grand Slam of the year is Texas Senator Drew Springer.
“Biden is banning Novak Djokovic from coming to USA to play the US Open but allows millions of unvaccinated illegals to flood across the border,” the senator wrote on Twitter.
“Hey Joe, what’s one more unvaxed person?!?! #LetNovakPlay #txlege #USOpen.”
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