"The Russians are still doing outrageous things, I don't reckon any of them should be playing" - Former sports minister supports ban of Russians at Australian Open

Former Liberal sports minister Richard Colbeck has taken aim at Tennis Australia for listening to the wrong advice about Novak Djokovic’s entry to the country a year ago, and has also called for the Australian Open to reverse its decision to allow Russians to play in the tournament.

The senior Coalition member, who was sports minister at the time of Djokovic’s deportation, welcomed the former world No.1’s return to Australia this week, but said the rules had been clear last year about unvaccinated foreigners seeking visas, and the entry requirements were spelt out to Australian Open organizers.

Nine-time Australian Open champion Djokovic quietly entered Australia late on Tuesday, landing in Adelaide for an Australian Open lead-up event, starting on Sunday. The Serb has come back for the 2023 tournament to renew his chase for a 10th Australian Open title after Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, a member of the new federal Labor government, last month overturned an automatic three-year ban that came with Djokovic’s visa being cancelled in January.

Colbeck said he had no problem with Djokovic being able to enter Australia now given the vastly different circumstances.

“I don’t have a problem with that as it is a different time today to 12 months ago. The decision I question now is letting Daniil Medvedev play,” he said. “I don’t reckon any of them [Russian players] should be playing.”

Russian and Belarusian players were this year controversially banned at Wimbledon after fears from tournament organizers that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use scenes of successful players from those nations as a form of propaganda. Amid significant unrest in tennis, Wimbledon was consequently stripped of rankings points.

Teams from Russia and Belarus were banned from the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams tournaments, as well as the new United Cup, a mixed-gender event that has launched the Australian tennis summer.

Tiley made it clear in October that Russian players were welcome at Melbourne Park, but they could not overtly represent Russia.

“They cannot participate in any activity such as the anthem of Russia and they have to play as independent players under a neutral name,” he said.