Victoria Azarenka: There must be clearer rules for vaccination in order to avoid Djokovic-like cases

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said that she expects legal cases to arise over the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) guidelines for mandatory vaccination of all women in women’s tournaments.

The former world’s number 1 for women believes that vaccination against COVID-19 is a socially responsible decision and the WTA has the right to promote it, but committing to this step will cause legal problems.

“I believe in science. I believe in vaccination. That’s why I got vaccinated. Everyone who plays in WTA tournaments travels around the world and we have to respect the countries we visit. There are different requirements, different laws, and rules everywhere. Some countries will not allow mandatory vaccines and legal issues may arise”, said Victoria Azarenka after defeating Jil Teichmann by 2-0 (6:1, 6:2), qualifying for the third round of the Australian Open.

The issue of compulsory vaccines is particularly relevant in the case of Novak Djokovic, who was deported from Australia after initially receiving a medical exemption, but authorities later refused the documents and denied him access for lack of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“This case has become a circus. There should be clearer rules, everything should be described in black and white, because now there are many ambiguities, which allows such situations to arise”, said Victoria Azarenka.