Why Was COVID Positive Novak Djokovic Maskless In Public?

by Sean Randall | January 8th, 2022, 5:05 pm
  • 38 Comments

Up to this point, I’ve tried to give the benefit of doubt to Novak Djokovic. I do think he was fed some wrong information from the Australian Open and he’s likely going to get sent home on Monday. But he has some explaining to do on another matter.

According to court documents released earlier today, Djokovic tested positive for COVID on December 16.

“..the date of the first positive COVID PCR test was recorded on 16 December 2021,” Djokovic lawyers wrote.


So December 16 is a hard fact.

And marry that with the social media photos floating around that date and you run into some conflicts. As I said in my earlier post, maybe those photos were taken before the positive test and released sometime after.

But, now the venerable French sports outlet L’Equipe has confirmed that they had Djokovic in for a photoshoot on December 18, just two days after his positive confirmation.

And that goes along with other photos circulating like this one from his own foundation from the 16th which would have been before the positive result:

He’s maskless in both!

On December 14, he was at a pro basketball and met a player who later tested positive — hence perhaps why Djokovic would get tested.

Anyway, so if he was positive on the 16th what was he doing attending that photoshoot on the 18th, and without a mask? How’s he going to explain that one.

He could say he took the test on the 16th but received the result later, on say the 19th. But then why risk going out in public while you are awaiting results after a close contact?

He could say the result did come back positive on the 16th, but he just never bothered to read it or wasn’t told until much later.

He could say the lawyers mis-wrote the date. Instead of December 16 it was October 16 or September 16 or July 16.

He could say he made a mistake and the positive test slipped his mind.

Or, likely what probably happened was he never did test positive and to get into Australia they made this positive test up. And that positive test was never to be made public. His team never thought that would leak. That makes the most sense here and is the simplest explanation. Especially since what was Djokovic’s other medical exemption option of getting to Melbourne? “I’m Novak Djokovic, world No. 1, 9-time Australian Open champion, they’ll let me in!!!”

Plus, as I said earlier, why wouldn’t he have announced the positive test result on the 16th. There’s no shame in that. Lots of players — including Rafael Nadal — has recently revealed positive tests. He did it last summer!

So forget Australia — they are likely not overturning their ruling even if it wasn’t his fault (rules are rules) and he could face a 3-year ban from the country(!!) — but he’ll now wake up this AM in his hotel to this new story and have to explain why he’s out in public maskless and COVID positive. And there’s no good way to do that.

I guess for Djokovic, if he does get sent back home he won’t be in front of the press until late February, so he’ll have time to get his story straight.


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Novak Djokovic Tested Positive For COVID On December 16
Djokovic’s Mom: Maybe Novak Didn’t Know He Was Positive When He Went In Public [Video]
Novak Djokovic: I’m Not An Expert On COVID PCR Test Results
Novak Djokovic: Vaccination Is Personal Decision, I Hope It Stays That Way

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38 Comments for Why Was COVID Positive Novak Djokovic Maskless In Public?

Dave Says:

I read through every page of the legal documents released for the court case. There are 35 pages for all of the errors the delegate who was the one dealing with Djokovic made. There were literally hundreds of errors that were made by the delegate. If half of them are true and Djokovic gets a fair trial, I don’t see any way that he will lose at this point. But I’m not a lawyer so I still don’t hold out a ton of hope that he gets to stay. But I could definitely see him appealing this again and again even if he misses the Australian Open if what’s said in the official documents is true. It seemed like the Delegate had no clue how to do proper prodocol for denying someone’s Visa. There were a ton of mistakes made according to these documents released by Djokovics Lawyers.

January 8th, 2022 at 5:39 pm


Wog Boy Says:

Dave, I really have great respect for you and your honesty, more than you can think of.

As for The Delegate, of course he didn’t have a clue nor legal reasons to deny Nole entry, but he have order to do so and to try to humiliate him as much as possible, by placing armed guards around him, taking his belongings, separating him from his team, putting him in dungeon where they put criminals and drug smugglers, keeping him 8 hours there even they knew well before he landed that they will deny him entry, scumbags!

January 8th, 2022 at 6:45 pm


Dave Says:

Apparently another option is that the case could be delayed for months and get settled later and he could be granted iterloctury injunction, which would allow Djokovic to stay in Australia in the mean time and they would reach some sort of settled later down the road. There was apparently an Australian Lawyer on the radio that gave his take on this situation and that’s what he thinks is going to happen. And these things normally get settled out of court.

January 8th, 2022 at 6:48 pm


skeezer Says:

Dave,
If Sean’s research is true, there is no way they are letting him stay in AU, regardless of what mistakes were made by TA or Gov.

January 8th, 2022 at 6:48 pm


Wog Boy Says:

Do we have information when did he received his test results?!
If paper says 18.12.2021. where is the problem? What matters is the date when he was informed.
If he was informed before 18/12/2021 than “Huston, we have a problem”.

January 8th, 2022 at 7:11 pm


Wog Boy Says:

Actually, on the second thought, fed court is ruling on matter whether Djokovic was legally denied entry in Australia and not whether he really had a test or behaved irresponsible after testing positive.
If that was pit as a reason for cancellation of visa than judge can use that agree, but if they stated different reasons than judge had to look only into those reasons to confirm the cancellation on that basis and not to speculate whether Nole’s test papers are legit, we need Bull here.

January 8th, 2022 at 7:27 pm


Wog Boy Says:

Of course that doesn’t mean that this new information won’t influence him, but I don’t think he can put that as official reason for rejecting Nole’s complaint, since border force didn’t have that information, though I am not legal expert and my friend is on holiday, anyway, it is only 24 hours to go and we will know the outcome of this saga.

January 8th, 2022 at 7:46 pm


Tennispompom Says:

Just curious, what date gets put on the PCR test results? The date when the test was taken, the date when it was received by the lab, or the date when the result was posted back? Anyone know?

And – a second question, what’s the turnaround on PCR tests in Serbia? Here in UK, NHS tell us that the majority of the people receive their test results in 1 to 3 days, but there have been a lot of complaints from the travelling public that they missed their flights because the test results weren’t posted in time.

If 16th is the date when the sample was taken, then it is downright impossible for Djokovic to have received his result in time for the stamp presentation, because the photo was posted at 2pm on the 17th.

Would he have received the results in time to cancel the L’Equipe photoshoot on the 18th? It might just be possible, but seems rather tight. As they say themselves, he wore a mask, but took it off for the actual taking of the photo. Lots of people do that, we see it happening on the TV all the time.

As for the video of him on the street with a racquet, there is no chile in sight, i.e. nowhere near him. There’s a woman visible in the street about 6 to 8 meters away, otherwise the street is completely empty. If this happened on the 25th, he should have had the results back by then, but also he could have been testing negative by then too. The documents do say that his FIRST positive test was on the 16th. We don’t know how many tests he took, not how often, not whether he had a mild or moderate severity disease. But clearly he was well enough to take some execrise and get some fresh air by the date of the video.

I don’t know what the rules are in Serbia, but here in UK, people who are positive are allowed to (and encouraged) to get some exercise, to take a walk outside and get some fresh air. So, even if he was still positive, he was staying well away from other people, and not breaking any UK rules. What are the rules in Serbia?

I’m aghast that the author of this article thinks that the most likely explanation was that he cheated and lied and that his PCR tests were all forgeries. What an attitude! May I suggest that you talk it over with a doctor, it smacks of paranoia to me.

January 8th, 2022 at 8:02 pm


Tennispompom Says:

Oh and a PS: looks like Djokovic’s immune system is pretty good. Not only is he now immune to the original strain, Alpha and possibly Delta (from his 1st infection in April 2020), but also to Omicron, which started haring through Europe in late November 21.

One couldn’t ask for better immunity! His antibodies are probably as good as one can get.

January 8th, 2022 at 8:07 pm


Dave Says:

I’ve heard because Omicron is different than the other strains, you can only need to quarantine for 5 days because you aren’t contagious as long as the other strains. Some places it’s 10. But I’ve also heard 5 days. So the 25th is definitely more than 5 days. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw that specific date

January 8th, 2022 at 8:29 pm


Wog Boy Says:

I want to believe that Nole did share this information with his barrister, if that’s the case I am not worried.

January 8th, 2022 at 8:46 pm


skeezer Says:

“ Djokovic’s exemption was determined to be invalid under Australia’s BioSecurity Act because his “previous infection with COVID-19 is not considered a medical contraindication for Covid-19 vaccination in Australia.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/tennis/novak-djokovic-covid-australia-intl-spt/index.html

January 8th, 2022 at 10:07 pm


chrisford1 Says:

Djokovic got infected Dec 16th according to Peter Bodo and CNN.
Since Omicron is everywhere, 120 other people going to the tournament were infected. Rafa was infected Dec 19th and was previously vaccinated, it seems.
All the other 120 had no issues with their Visas, just Djokovic, a Czech doubles player and an official who had bad paperwork who had already left.
I did a Euro business trip 2nd week of November and I was all vaccinated and boostered up but they had that waiver that if you were vaccinated, and caught a breakthrough infection from Delta, (Omicron didn’t exist) and you were planning on a booster, you could be waived from that booster by a doctor’s note. for 120 or 160 days…
In Novak’s case I don’t know what he would have said had he not fortuitously, he thought, caught Omicron – what was he planning on for a waiver for not being vaccinated if his Dec 16th infection never have happened??? What did he do for the last year and a half after he caught Alpha Covid, to help self-improve his ability to travel, earn a living, be with family and friends in different countries?? What was his F*kin’ Plan???
“Hi Aussies, I’m unvaccinated. Let me in!!”
That plan??
And as Sean is saying, if he WAS infected Dec 16th, why did he not follow French, Spanish, Monacan, and Serb rules on self isolating and wearing a mask inside – if going indoors, like to a medical facility, couldn’t be avoided??
TennisPomPom – its sports reporters doing what sports reporters do – look for ratings and career advancement is a sports scandal. They investigate, and if they dig up more embarrassing things on the anti-vaxxers caught in deception (Aaron Rogers, Irving, etc.) they throw it out there for the public. And will throw stupid stuff like the Partisan rags do about silly “Gotcha! Unmasked moments when this politician or celeb or whatever is ‘caught without” in a setting no one wears a mask in. Except our senile American President in a mask, and a diaper, walking his puppy on the beach.

January 9th, 2022 at 3:17 am


Wog Boy Says:

Live stream from Melbourne, at this bery moment, outside Nole hotel, still going from yesterday, even better music:

https://youtu.be/bKJ9UzjldxE

January 9th, 2022 at 3:42 am


Van Persie Says:

WB,

nice, looks like there is a lot of fun🙂

CF1,

I get the point, I respect your opinion.
Nole did the mistake that he trusted the information from Tennis Australia, he should have been more carefull with that.

On the other hand, a sportsman should be treated like an ambassador, when he is travelling… the Federal Government of Australia treated him like some sort of a criminal. This is something what one should not do, therefore I am with Novak.
When a country is organising such an event, iy should be a bit more flexible with the participants…

January 9th, 2022 at 4:57 am


Giles Says:

These Serbs are a wild bunch! ROFL

January 9th, 2022 at 5:20 am


Van Persie Says:

And, like it or not, Nole is the 9 times champions there… thay can ban him from Australia for years, this record will stay there for a loooong time. Nole kind of owns Rod Laver Arena😉

January 9th, 2022 at 5:32 am


David Says:

I am a fan of Novak but not blind enough to know that he has done wrong here whichever way you look at it.
I suspect he never tested positive Dec 16th but stated that to tick the medical exemption which would allow him to play in the Australian Open which would shows an enormous lack of respect to the sacrifices people have all made. Even if he did test positive he has clearly gone about his normal day without following self isolating procedures and met with groups of people unmasked inside and outside.He knew he was positive on the 16th and mixed with people unmask which is simply astonishing and a disregard to human life. These are just the photos that the camera caught there will be much more than were not captured.

Tennispompom is not correct. If you test positive for Covid in the UK you are not allowed to exercise outside. You may be getting mixed up with exercising while in lockdown or if you have not had a positive test result.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/

January 9th, 2022 at 7:00 am


Dave Says:

Another Lawyer is saying the same thing that the other lawyer said before. After reading all 35 pages for the case I was thinking, how are they going to get through this case on time? There are so many details and so many different points to go over. I don’t see how it would be possible.

https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Novak_Djokovic/107287/leading-lawyer-says-novak-djokovic-will-likely-play-australian-open/

January 9th, 2022 at 7:23 am


Wog Boy Says:

Dave, he might be right. Australian government publish today on government site their response on 13 pages (which I am not going through) but stressed that as sovereign country they have right to again detain Nole, if he is freed….after AO? They also stressed that federal court can’t stop Commonwealth from detaining, basically illegal immigrant, why would you say something like that.
Also interesting, the person who was behind Nole’s cancelation of visa and who actually insisted that Nole has to be deported immediately, Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram is former London police officer, Englishman who migrated to Australia in 2002 and worked his way all the way up to Federal Commissioner, it was leaked that he was relentless all night for Nole to be deported?

January 9th, 2022 at 8:29 am


skeezer Says:

https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1480139861281546241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

AU never said they never represented they would accept his “medical exemption.”
And so it begins…

January 9th, 2022 at 9:27 am


Giles Says:

Anyone have a prediction? Will he play or not?

January 9th, 2022 at 10:53 am


Tennis Vagabond Says:

Dave, there is the possibility that the mistakes of any bureaucrats won’t matter. This isn’t a criminal case where mistakes of a prosecutor can have the case thrown out. It would still be up to Novak’s team to prove why he should get an exemption. This is a public health issue, they’re not going to simply say, oh, mistakes were made, therefore we will contravene our rules and allow an ‘unsafe’ person in.

CF1’s point is also very interesting: what was his plan before he tested positive in December?

All that said, I hope Novak can be found ‘safe’ somehow and gets in. The Slams have seemed so lacking in star power for the last 2 years, and it would really put a damper on this event to start 2022 to take him out.

The world wants to know how he responds to the US loss to Medvedev!

January 9th, 2022 at 10:54 am


Dave Says:

Giles. Your question seems impossible for me to answer. Sometimes I think he will play and other times no. Nothing happens until it happens. Nothing is guaranteed either way here. I seriously can’t give an answer I would feel totally confident with.

January 9th, 2022 at 11:47 am


Glisovic Says:

I would like to know how come no one was caunting Rafa’s days after he said that he is positiv. If I remember it was 20 decembar and he came tu AU. 31 december. It is 11 days. If I am right by their low You have to wait 14 days agter You get infected to enter AU.4

January 9th, 2022 at 11:52 am


Dave Says:

I have a question for everyone. Does this trial being streamed worldwide for the public and so widely known give Djokovic an advantage to play in the Australian Open? It makes no difference? Or a disadvantage? That’s kind of the last thing to factor into this whole thing since all the info has been released.

January 9th, 2022 at 11:54 am


Dave Says:

Again, I’m not getting involved in the Political part of it. Just whether he plays or not.

January 9th, 2022 at 11:57 am


Van Persie Says:

Dave,

Yes, it will be streamed worldwide and yes, there is a chance, that he can play.

January 9th, 2022 at 12:22 pm


Van Persie Says:

Dave,

P.S. But is better to expect the worse, and let yourself pleasantly surprised, if it will go well.

January 9th, 2022 at 12:30 pm


skeezer Says:

Giles I don’t know what you are getting at re: what if case dismissed. I would assume they ship him out, no?

So question: IF he gets to play, does he get tested daily? Can he be in the locker room with other players? Etc. Etc….

Cljisters commented on this btw,,

January 9th, 2022 at 12:55 pm


Van Persie Says:

Skeezer, Do no be silly, one can get Covid with the vaccine and transmit it. Should he be in a aeparate locker room, he would be the one protected😂

I got Covid after the round 2…I travelled, no one teste me as I had the vaccine papers. .. I performed a quick test, as I could not smell anything, this was my only simptome… until I got tested, others vaccinated persons got Covid from me, as I assume I also got it from some vaccinated asimptomatic person, with whom I was in contact…

January 9th, 2022 at 1:03 pm


fred stone Says:

Win or lose there will be appeals.
The ‘laws’ have changed every other day regarding rules and restrictions in the last two years.
Djoker thought he had a loophole but instead fell into a rabbit hole.
Lawyers will drag this out. There will be no quick decision/appeal process to appear to not show any favoritism.

January 9th, 2022 at 1:03 pm


Van Persie Says:

separate, not aeparate, Correction

January 9th, 2022 at 1:04 pm


Van Persie Says:

Overweight persons have a problem when getting Covid… Bill Gates’ vaccines do not help very much, as I can see.. Steve Job’s quote much help more these days:”Stay hungry, stay foolish” ,… like Djoko😂

January 9th, 2022 at 1:15 pm


Wog Boy Says:

@Glisovic

Good point Glisovic, immigration law of Australia states that you can enter Australia if- “it has been at least 14 days since there was a first positive result of a PCR test”
Nadal tested positive on 20th of December and entered Australia on 31st of December?

January 9th, 2022 at 4:01 pm

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