Sports News | Sports Ministry Miffed at Aussie Open Organisers for Denying Aman Dahiya Entry
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. The union sports ministry feels that the organisers of the Australian Open have wrongfully denied junior Indian tennis player Aman Dahiya an opportunity to compete in the junior Grand Slam by rejecting his application for vaccine exemption even as they accepted Novak Djokovic's request.
New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) The union sports ministry feels that the organisers of the Australian Open have wrongfully denied junior Indian tennis player Aman Dahiya an opportunity to compete in the junior Grand Slam by rejecting his application for vaccine exemption even as they accepted Novak Djokovic's request.
Dahiya had to compete in the singles qualifying event of the junior Australian Open but since India started vaccination for teenagers only from January 3, he could not be vaccinated, which is a pre-condition to enter the first Grand Slam of the season.
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Ranked 78, Dahiya is only one of the two Indians in junior top-100 along with Chirag Duhan (77).
The Australian Open organisers have accepted only four-five applications for vaccine exemption, including that of defending champion Novak Djokovic, out of 26 requests. It is not known, if that includes juniors.
"World No 1, Novak gets exemption from two vaccine doses rule and Aman Dahiya is refused entry as he is 17 and does not have vaccine. The blame has to go to Australian Open organisers. This type of third world treatment given to India has to stop," a sports ministry official said.
Djokovic has not yet explained the vaccination exemption that he secured on medical grounds.
Victoria state government had mandated that only fully vaccinated players, officials and fans will be allowed to enter Melbourne Park.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)