Australian state of Victoria makes vaccination mandatory for athletes ahead of Ashes and Australian Open

ByThe Editorial Team

Updated 02/10/2021 at 11:13 GMT

Novak Djokovic has expressed reservations about the Covid-19 vaccination in the past, but must be fully vaccianted by the end of November if he wants to defend his Australian Open title. The Australian state of Victoria has issued a health order requiring professional athletes to be vaccinated by the end of next month.

Australia´s Victoria state has mandated that professional athletes must be fully vaccinated by the end of November, ahead of The Ashes and The Australian Open.

The order, issued on Friday, included “professional or high-performance sportsperson, workers that support the safe running of that person’s professional sport”.

The measures were announced as a response to a breakout in the Delta variant of Covid-19 in the southern states..

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In reference to the Ashes which begins on December 8, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said: ““I don’t issue passports or visas ... but I think it is highly unlikely that the Commonwealth government will be letting anybody into this country that has not been double-vaxxed, certainly in the medium term. That might change over time."

Nine-time Australian Open champion is among those to have expressed reservations against the vaccine, though his current immunisation status remains unknown.

Australian cricket captain Tim Paine has also said that the Ashes will go ahead even if England captain Joe Root refuses to travel, as he has suggested in protest against the nation’s harsh quarantine rules and disappointment that families will be unable to join.

Joe Root has not yet confirmed whether he will captain England in Australia

Image credit: Getty Images

“The Ashes are going ahead. The first test is on December 8 – whether Joe is here or not,” Paine told radio station SEN Hobart.

“It’ll be worked out above us and then they’ll have a choice whether to get on that plane or not.

“No-one is forcing any England player to come. That’s the beauty of the world we live in – you have a choice. If you don’t want to come, don’t come.”

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