Friday January 14, 2022
hero and hate figure
The dangerous escalation of the “Djokovic case”
By Tobias Nordman
Novak Djokovic would like to play tennis in Australia but may not be allowed to do so. The dispute over the Serb’s visa and his start at the Australian Open is escalating into uninhibited madness that completely neglects the core of the dispute.
Novak Djokovic may win the Australian Open at the end of January. It would be a historic achievement. But not a historic triumph. Too much has happened in the past few days for anyone to feel like a winner at the end of this madness. And yet it will happen that the decision of the Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will be mercilessly exploited, exploited and staged. Especially from the side of the Serbian tennis star. Their heroization of the player to the point of being close to Jesus had escalated just as disturbingly in the past few days as the case itself, in which everything had become completely absurd in the meantime: refusal to vaccinate, false information, conspiracy theories, allegations of deception and mistakes by the authorities.
In the meantime, the large area has actually dwarfed itself again. Here’s to Hawke. He alone will now decide whether Djokovic can actually compete or whether he has to leave the country immediately. The reason would then be the renewed cancellation of Djokovic’s visa. That would be the legal level. But that’s not what many people care about anymore. The case of the world number one has long since reached another level that is no longer factual. The Djokovic case will be decided in society on morality. And in the wake of the pandemic, negotiations are no longer conducted fairly, but almost exclusively aggressively. The roar and the staging are important.
So there are actually only two categories: For his followers, Djokovic is the (even greater) hero who does not give up his resistance to vaccination, the “leader” of a free world. For his opponents he is a hate figure who thinks selfishly and acts ignorantly. Especially ignorant of the people in Australia who had to endure the extreme hardship and length of the lockdown during the pandemic. This even culminated in entry bans for their own citizens. Of course, Djokovic can’t do anything for all these hardships. However, this does not free him from moral guilt.
Too many inconsistencies and doubts
Because Djokovic’s fight for a visa and participation in the Australian Open, which he could win for the tenth time, is paved with inconsistencies and doubts. There is the controversial PCR test, which was initially negative and finally positive much later (ten days, according to several media with reference to the time stamp in a Serbian database). Then there is the matter of public appearances, despite the proven infection. Questions about this chaos were blocked by the family, and the press conference was broken off. Sovereign is different.
And then there is the time of the corona infection. As far as is known, this happened just over a week after the player learned that he could travel to Australia if he had recovered within the past six months. This exception is allowed to people if they are not vaccinated against at least twice. For the vaccine skeptic from Serbia the perfect opportunity for his historic serve, which should end with Grand Slam title 21. However, the infection does not seem completely unrealistic, because on December 14 he attended a basketball game in his home country, after which there were numerous infections.
Back to tennis: Djokovic would now be the most successful player of all time, he would then have finally left Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal behind. That’s what drives him. A legitimate one. But none that justifies possible trickery in any form.
It’s still not clear how things will turn out. The player is currently the winner. But his success stands on swampy ground. The country of Australia would like to continue deporting him so as not to be suspected of bending the rules in the country for celebrities. Hawke, who continues to take his time with his decision because of apparently new information from the tennis star’s lawyers, is under massive pressure. Hardly anyone in Australia, with the exception of the Serbian community, would understand if the 34-year-old stayed in the country. The fact is: the longer the matter drags on, the less time Djokovic’s lawyers would have to appeal against a renewed deportation in court. A possibly tempting scenario for the authorities. No matter how Hawke decides, he too will be proclaimed a hero and a hate figure. There is no longer an evaluation close to the moral middle.
Kimmich also knows the force of the split
Joshua Kimmich from FC Bayern is one who has experienced this merciless division in the pandemic. Because he announced in the fall that he would not yet be vaccinated because he would lack data on long-term consequences, he became almost persona non grata in some parts of society from being the favorite boy in German football. However – and that is the difference to Djokovic – there were no inconsistencies or possibly an attempt to trick anything. The vaccination advocates complained violently, the lateral thinkers celebrated loudly. That is the price to be paid by those who choose not to spade in this pandemic. Your decision-making steadfastness is exploited by a scene that is also recruited from Corona deniers and right-wing extremists. Which then severely affects the second line of conflict in society: a completely uninhibited and radical nationalism.
He also reveals himself in the Djokovic case. An entire country, President Aleksandar Vucic proclaimed, stands behind its national hero. And a pro-government tabloid even spoke of an “attack on the entire Serbian people.” This feeling of the politically motivated general attack was escalated by the staging of Djokovic’s family. Hatred becomes heroism.
The state of Victoria, where the first Grand Slam of the year is taking place, is reporting extremely high infection rates. More than 37,000 new cases were registered this Thursday. There were also 25 other deaths related to Covid-19, 953 people were admitted to hospitals. Because of the rapidly increasing numbers, the regional government has announced that it will limit the number of spectators to 50 percent of capacity. Nothing smells like triumph.