Australian Open director received death threats and needed security throughout Djokovic deportation saga

Sunday, 01 October 2023 at 08:00

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has revealed that he faced death threats after forcing Serbia’s tennis star Novak Djokovic to be deported from the country in 2022.

The current world number one was forced to leave the country last year because of the anti-vaccination stance in regards to Covid-19.

Tiley was recently quoted in a report where he revealed that he had to live under security after the development.

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"Well, I had death threats and had to be under security but I think, again, it’s internal, self-talk and you have a choice on what that self-talk is,” he said. “If I’m making a difference and making tough decisions, there’s going to be some criticism… you know we’re not running a hotel, we’re not there to please everyone.

"We were in a state where there were 270 days of lockdown. We were the first Major sporting event to fly athletes from around the world into one city... we were still able to deliver the event and the next year, we started the event on the cusp of Omicron, which was the new variant.

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"There were a whole bunch of different views at that time. At that point, I felt for Novak [Djokovic] you know because he was someone who did what he thought was the right thing to do based on the paperwork that he had in front of them and ended up coming to the country, then being removed by one of the ministers.”

Djokovic, who won three out of the four major titles this year, is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

His most successful competition has been the Australian Open where he has ended up winning the title 10 times, most in the tournament’s history.

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Azeem Siddiqui

Azeem Siddiqui is a seasoned sports journalist and data analyst with a strong background in both digital media and live sports production.

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