New Delhi: Tennis star Novak Djokovic has said that he is “opposed to vaccination” and doesn’t like the idea of being required to get a coronavirus vaccine in order to return to playing.
The 17-times Grand Slam singles title winner revealed his anti-vaxxer views during a Facebook chat with other Serbian athletes Sunday.
“Personally, I am opposed to vaccination, and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,” he said.
“But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision. I have my own thoughts about the matter, and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don’t know,” the world’s no. 1 men’s tennis player added.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all tennis tournaments have been cancelled till mid-July. The Wimbledon, which is the biggest tennis event, has also been cancelled for the first time since World War II.
There is no vaccination available for the coronavirus at present but health experts have said it is likely to be developed in about 12-18 months.
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Split with his coach over refusal to undergo surgery
Djokovic is also known for his spiritualism. He had earlier sought the advice of a quantum healer — a practitioner of a controversial form of medicine that relies on quantum physics to diagnose ailments — as he was unsatisfied with popular medicine.
His opposition to a surgery for his elbow injury also led to his split with his coach Andre Agassi in 2017 as he refused medical intervention and insisted on alternative, holistic treatments.
Djokovic, however, underwent the operation in 2018 and told The Telegraph that he “felt like he had failed himself every time he thought about the surgery”.
The tennis player is also said to believe in telepathy and telekinesis (intuition). “I feel like [these] are the gifts from this higher-order, the source, the god, whatever, that allows us to understand the higher power and higher order in ourselves. We have the power to programme our subconscious,” he had said.
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