Leading Topic: Politics
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Please enjoy this #political content, US Congress Members Lobby for Djokovic to Play US Open, below.
Novak Djokovic at the men’s final against Nick Kyrgios of Australia at Wimbledon, UK, July 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL.
Over 46,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the United States Tennis Association, USTA, to work with the US government to allow Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic to enter the US to compete in the US Open tournament.
Some 20 days before the tennis tournament should start, some US Congress members are also urging authorities and President Joe Biden to make an exception in the COVID-19 entry rules and allow Djokovic to enter the country.
Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert on Wednesday on Twitter posted a letter he and seven colleagues sent to the President some days earlier.
“In certain ways, Mr Djokovic is a perfect ambassador, modelling how humanity is diminished and harmed when the government places itself in the position of the authority that only the individual, in consultation with God and chosen others, should rightly occupy,“ the letter said.
Besides Gohmert, Republicans Ralph Norman, Mary Miller, Thomas Massie, Randy Weber, Brian Mast, Billy Long and Andy Biggs also signed the letter.
Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney sent a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday, which urged him “to permit tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, among others, to enter the United States to compete in the 2022 US Open”.
“Even though several Americans who are unvaccinated will take part in the tournament this year, prominent players from around the world, including Novak Djokovic, will not be able to participate due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate instituted by President Joseph R. Biden“, Tenney wrote.
“I strongly urge you to issue National Interest Exemptions for unvaccinated members of the Association of Tennis Professionals who otherwise meet the high standards of eligibility to compete in the US Open,“ she added.
I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US. Fingers crossed! ????
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) July 30, 2022
Djokovic himself wrote on Twitter on July 30 that he is “preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to the US“.
The tennis superstar, a vocal sceptic about vaccines, already had a problem when it comes to tournament participation in January when he was not allowed to enter Australia due to its COVID-19 rules, which caused him to miss the Australian Open. He was deported from the country on January 16.
The US does not allow people who are not fully vaccinated to enter the country and Djokovic already missed another tournament held this year in the US.
Djokovic is currently ranked 6th on the ATP list.
‘News of the Day’ content, as reported by public domain newswires.
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