Novak Djokovic

Did Novak dissapoint?

Throughout January Novak Djokovic kept a dignified silence, passing slowly behind tinted windows through chanting crowds, camera flashes and screaming fans. His only spokespeople during his time in (and quickly out of) Australia were his beleaguered father and devoted wife who tweeted passionately about freedom, love and choice.

Djokovic’s father, Srdan, told Russian media he was outraged by the treatment of his son. “They can throw him in a dungeon, tomorrow they can put him in chains. The truth is he is like water and water paves its own path. Novak is the Spartacus of the new world which won’t tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy.” The script for the Hollywood biopic was writing itself.

The global Legacy Media cast the Serbian athlete as the archetypal bad guy selfishly clutching a tennis racket to his (healthy) heart, determined to overthrow any piddling rules about virus control in his selfish pursuit of championship victory; breathing his fetid germs across thousands of people en route to the courtside.

On New Media, he became a modern-day Freedom Fighter, sacrificing his chance at the historic legacy of being the World’s Greatest Tennis Player for the greater good of defending medical privacy, bodily autonomy and freedom of choice. If the Australian Autocrats were David, he was Goliath…in a lovely Lacoste Tracksuit.

So, I for one, had mixed feelings about his eventual ‘coming out’ speech. I use that term deliberately – the stigma that gay people were once forced to feel about confessing their true identity contains real parallels to the social shame of not having jumped on the Covid-jab-wagon. Segregation, discrimination and the gasp of an elderly neighbour over the garden fence fit comfortably in both settings.

What would the world’s most principled tennis player say when he finally relayed his version of events? Could he possibly satisfy the yearning inside so many of us for a popular, principled, cerebral man to articulate his reasons for not receiving the covid treatment serum? Would he acquiesce to sponsor demands and back-peddle? Would he wear one of ‘I got jabbed’ stickers like my 75 year-old, sharp-as-a-tack mother was given and to which she replied, “I’m not 6 you know!”?

So did Novak disappoint in his first sit-down interview? No, he did not.

Could he have gone further? Yes, he could.
But not with that broadcaster.

I do understand why he chose the ‘world-renowned beacon of impartiality’ the great British Broadcasting Corporation to record and transmit the chat. He hasn’t lived in the UK for the last two years and is probably still labouring under the illusion that they are not state-sponsored propogandists. Oh, and they do a lovely job of Wimbledon and I imagine he likes Clare Balding (who doesn’t?).

Pavvy G @pavyg

I'm incredibly proud of Novak. He could have taken his side of the story to any media outlet in the world, but wanted to go directly back to the BBC as it was ultimately their article the Australian govt used to deport him. So much courage, integrity and honesty. Huge respect. https://t.co/c9z7biMT45

Novak Djokovic @DjokerNole

I am grateful for the opportunity to answer questions from @amolrajan and set the record straight. Watch the full interview today at 8.30pm GMT on @BBC1 in the UK and BBC World. https://t.co/QkFH1p8GWJ

A BBC article was used as evidence to deport Novak… and still he chose to sit down with A-level drama student Amol Rajan and surrender himself to their edits.

If, like me, you now develop a neurological tick each time you hear the word ’vaccine’ used in relation to the covid medicines, the interview is a tough listen. It requires a bleep button. Even Amol’s opening question, “Have you received any vaccination against covid?” to which Novak replies, “No.” Might, more accurately have been continued, “…and neither have you Amol mate…not according to the traditional definition that we all grew up with…”

Remember, in 2021 the CDC removed the definition for “vaccination.” It used to read, “the act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.” Now, the word “immunity” has been swapped to “protection.”

The term “vaccine” also got a sneaky little makeover which was not reported in the mainstream media. This changed from “a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease” to the current “a preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases.”

In other words, these ‘vaccines’ don’t give you immunity, i.e. you will remain a leaky sieve until you inevitably become infected and at that point you might find they help you stay well (fingers crossed).

But Novak is clearly a polite interviewee and chose not to tackle Rajan on this infuriating linguistic flip-flop.

In fact, there were no major revelations from Novak for right-minded people who already knew exactly how he felt. He may have been a millionaire emerging from Business Class after being booted out of Australia, but psychologically he was walking in the same shoes as a British care-home worker saying goodbye to their much-loved octogenarians and silently raging against the injustice. Emotionally, Djokovic is no different to a Canadian trucker losing his livelihood for rejecting the mandates under Dictator Trudeau.

They are all united by a belief that they have a right to enjoy the normal freedoms of a western liberal democracy without accepting a pharmaceutical intervention with has a negligible effect on transmission.

This should not be remotely controversial. The price Novak will pay is psychologically and emotionally high. Elite sportsmen are not like normal people (I was married to one for nearly 20 years so I know of what I speak…) and the pursuit of victory normally trumps everything else. He may have immense personal wealth and a happy family, but that’s not what motivates men like Djokovic. At least not in world before covid when hitting balls felt important.

He admits, “I am unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment. It is a price I am prepared to pay.”

At this point Amol channels his inner Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting and beseeches, “Why Novak? Why?” with an incredulity which either proves he knows fuck all about the number of healthy young men dropping dead from vaccine-induced myocarditis or he’s sucking up to his bosses who want the public to know fuck all about the young men dropping dead from myocarditis.

“Because of the principles of decision making on my body are more important than anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”

I mean…pass me a cool flannel to dab my moistening brow…If Novak was shooting for a statement that makes a girl want to rip off her clothes and perform a little ‘love all’ he hit the absolute bullseye.

Dignity, sensuality, spirituality and maturity all wrapped up in one tanned, muscular package tied with a bow of integrity. He had me at ‘because.’

“But he’s so selfish!” cry the fans in the cheap seats….

Let’s just unpick that a little. If these jabs conformed to our long-held understanding of a true vaccine, which would make a meaningful difference to transmission; and if otherwise healthy people were commonly face-planting in the street, then this would be a very different conversation. Viral load, if infected, in the jabbed and unjabbed is the same. There appears to be a small window (approximately ten weeks after the first two weeks post-jab) in which you are marginally less likely to catch covid. But as everyone who had a Christmas party cancelled due to the boosted dropping like flies, even this data seems to have been unvalidated by Omicron.

It’s worth remembering that in a true pandemic the government would not need to tell people to stay at home, they’d be carefully coaxing us out. They wouldn’t need to use any form of blackmail to get us to take drugs – the risk of not doing so would be all around us. Human beings have strong self-preservation instincts and we would be grateful for as many jabs as we needed to protect the few remaining members of our families we had left. We would be lamenting all of this as we queued at the graveyard to bury yet another of our children. But this is not that. This is in no way that.

Novak stated several simple truths which used to be widely regarded as important: he didn’t speak out because he believes in medical privacy (tick); the principle of decision making over his body is his alone (tick) and he had good natural immunity from prior infection demonstrated by the antibody tests that he gave Australian authorities (tick).

It makes my ears ring to hear such obvious statements of scientific and ethical fact rejected. (I’ve recently wondered whether the almost 8,000 cases of tinnitus after vaccination reported to the UK’s Yellow Card system are simply what happens to our heads when voices of authority no longer reflect reality around us…).

But then came Rajan’s political question, “The anti-vax movement say you are one of them” he shrugged.

In fact, it isn’t even a question. As a statement, it is deliberately aggressive, a challenge, a dirty journalistic trick to get someone on the ropes, the kind of technique appropriate if you’re grilling a suspected paedophile perhaps or a President accused of getting a blow-job from an intern. It’s not remotely apt when faced with a quietly dignified man acting on behalf of everyone’s freedom.

Rajan’s statement also contains a grotesque ‘othering’ which we had evolved away from prior to spring 2021. Using the word “Them” is sneering and reductive. He makes no attempt to explain what he means by the “antivaxxers.” Does he mean people who oppose all covid injections for all people? Does he mean those who have no opinion on a person’s individual covid jab status but who decry mandates? Does he means those who believe mandates are wrong , except in healthcare settings? Does he mean those who believe children should not be vaccinated? Or does he mean those who believe the vaccines are a slow-burning means of global depopulation?….Of course, this is the BBC…and so he makes no attempt to explain his definition. It’s much easier to lump all of the above together and keep the masses dumbed down.

Novak did exactly what I too have had to on occasion when asked that question on TV. He laughed. He laughed because he saw right through the attempt to divide and cause hate.

What I would have liked him to do is ask what Amol meant by that. But he’s a nice man and sometimes we have to shy away from exposing a host’s stupidity. When Jeremy Vine asked why I was pretending Ivermectin was a human drug when it was really a “horse dewormer” I asked why he was pretending to be so stupid. I haven’t been on since.

“Everyone has the right to act or say whatever they feel is appropriate for them,” continued Novak, “I have never said I’m part of that movement. Nobody has ever asked me my stance or my opinion. It’s really unfortunate that there has been this kind of misconception.”

I’m tempted to analyse this as a very clever answer - you don’t have to be “part of a movement” to agree with the beliefs of a particular group. But as neither of them explained what they mean by ‘antivax movement’ it’s impossible to unpick.

The most chilling insight however, was the fact that Novak had, in fact, met all of the criteria required to enter Australia and play in the Open. “We were following the rules and when there was a possibility for medical exemption I applied and I put forward my pcr test and the sufficient amount of antibodies I had at that time.” Crucially, this is an anonymous system and was accepted by two Australian officials.

“I was not deported on the basis that I was not vaccinated or broke any rules. All of that was approved and validated by the federal court of Australia.…The Minister for Immigration used his discretional right to cancel my visa based on his perception that I might create some anti-vax sentiment.”

In the interview, he doesn’t name the power-tripping Minister who presumably signed the discretionary paperwork with his cock, but remember his name: Alex Hawke.

Hawke’s mother died when he was ten years old and one of his most famous quotes is,  "The two greatest forces for good in human history are capitalism and Christianity, and when they're blended it's a very powerful duo.” Presumably there is a tipping point in his head at which Christian compassion is swamped by the thrusting forces of capitalism and his self-righteous God-complex kicked in. Novak, it seems, became the victim of this perfect storm. I, for one, will never forget his name. I wonder how he justifies the morals that he is teaching his kids about bodily autonomy.

Hawke claimed that Novak’s presence would be a bad influence on the Australian people who would be inspired not to take the jabs - yet another example of how many people in power have a low opinion of the general public. If Djokovic had such talismanic abilities, presumably everyone who watched him play would ditch the burgers and hit the gym for two hours a day. Such would be his influence, that Australia wouldn’t be sat proudly behind America and New Zealand as the third fattest major country in the world despite its wealth of outdoor sport’s facilities.

I was on Talk Radio yesterday alongside a funny little man who appears to be a caricature of a professional agitator, Benjamin Butterworth to discuss the Novak interview. Ian Collins asked if Djokovic will be warmly welcomed at Wimbledon. Butterworth claimed he would “boo him off” which was an oddly apt response for a man who is merely a padded bra away from being a panto-dame.

talkRADIO @talkRADIO

Benjamin Butterworth slams "dangerous" Novak Djokovic after he said he would not defend his Wimbledon or French Open titles if mandatory jabs are required. "If I were in the stadium, I would boo Novak Djokovic." @benjaminbutter | @iancollinsuk | @beverleyturner

I think he’s wrong. I think that the majority of the British public is tired of dictators telling them what to do. Every woman I know is bored of weak men scuttling to hide from a virus with a 99.8% infection survival rate and an average age of death of 82, hiding their pallid faces behind a strip of cloth in order to appear selfless. Most people are not impressed by puppets like Amol Rajan with his ear stud and chunky necklace glinting in the sun while he looks baffled at a superhero defending an out-dated concept he calls “principles.”

I think every person on centre-court who has fallen out with a loved one, lost their job, seen their business fail, known someone who’s been hurt by the jabs or – even – just remembers a time when principles were important will want to cheer him on. Whether they will feel brave enough to do so publicly is another matter…

“I keep my mind open as we are all trying to find collectively the best possible solution to stop covid” said Novak in response to whether he will ever take the medicine in the future.

It was diplomatic. But it was knowing. If there had been more ‘open minds’ we could have avoided much of the last two years’ trauma. And like the water his father described, he soothed, revived and for a moment, quenched our thirst for truth.