Dan Andrews calls out double standard for Aussie Open players
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has made his stance clear regarding whether unvaccinated tennis players should be allowed to compete in the Australian Open this year.
The Premier has said he doesn’t believe vaccinated players should be allowed to compete after a leaked email to Women’s Tennis Association players detailed the rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated players.
The email claimed that unvaccinated players could compete after completing 14 days of hotel quarantine upon arrival.
As for vaccinated players, the email said there would be no quarantine requirements and “will have complete freedom of movement”.
In the email, which was shared online by tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg, the tennis authority also said unvaccinated stars would need to “submit to regular testing”.
🐨Update on #AusOpen🐨
Per email sent to WTA players just now, Tennis Australia has told WTA PC that fully vaccinated players won’t be required to quarantine or bubble at all.
Unvaccinated players will be allowed to enter, TA tells WTA, but must do 14 days of hotel quarantine. pic.twitter.com/cu4NV8abYB— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) October 24, 2021
Mr Andrews came out against the rules, saying that if those attending the event at Melbourne Park need to be fully vaccinated, the players should be too.
“You try getting into the US … most of Europe, really, so many different parts of Asia if you haven’t been vaccinated,” he told ABC Radio. “Like, you’re just not getting a visa - why would that be different here?
“I don’t think it’s too much to say, if you want one of those visas and you want to come here, then you need to be double-vaxxed.
“All the people who are watching the tennis at the Australian Open, they’re going to be double-vaxxed, all the people that work there are going to be double-vaxxed. It stands to reason that if you want to get into the country to be part of that tournament, then you should be double-vaxxed as well.”
In response to the commotion caused by the leaked email, Victorian Sports and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula told 3AW radio that it will ultimately be up to the federal government to decide.
“We are still resolving with Tennis Australia and the Commonwealth whether unvaccinated foreign nationals will be allowed into Australia at all, and if so, under what circumstances they will be allowed,” Mr Pakula said.
“Unvaccinated, we are still talking to the Commonwealth about whether the rule for international unvaccinated arrivals is either 14 days quarantine, or they are not coming into the country at all. We don’t expect that to be settled for another couple of weeks.
“In the end, it’s a federal decision about who gets into the country and the circumstances in which they get in. We are still having that conversation with them. And we’re obviously talking to Tennis Australia who is also talking to the Commonwealth.”
Mr Pakula said that the decision would be made with “plenty of time for every player on tour to be very clear about what the rules will be”, stressing that vaccinated players would be treated in the same way as any other vaccinated arrival.
The email sent to tennis players from the sport’s governing body came after Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said any sports stars hoping to compete in Australian competitions would need to have two doses of a TGA-approved vaccine.
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