By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday January 8, 2022
As Novak Djokovic awaits the hearing of his appeal in an Australian Federal court on Monday, new details of the World No.1’s court case are coming out. Court reports reveal that Djokovic tested positive for Covid-19 on December 16, which is why he was granted an exemption to play the 2022 Australian Open by independent panels run by Tennis Australia and the State of Victoria.
But there are further complications to the case.
Djokovic was seen in public at separate gatherings on December 16, 17 and 18th, which means that the Serb would have been in public without a mask on the days the he received news of his positive diagnosis.
Another item of interest is the fact that the Australian Open’s original deadline for special exemption paperwork was December 10th, which means that Tennis Australia had to make an exception for Djokovic. If that’s the case, it’s hard to believe that the panels that granted Djokovic his exemption were truly anonymous, as they claimed to be.
Djokovic was officially granted his exemption on December 30, 14 days after his original positive diagnosis, which claimed that “Mr. Djokovic had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of Covid-19 in the last 72 hours.”
Djokovic’s public appearances after his positive Covid test should not affect his case, but they do make one wonder why the Serb would step out in public after testing positive for Covid.
Djokovic will present his submissions to the court on Monday January 10 at 1000 Melbourne time.