Tennis Star Novak Djokovic Enjoyed Gluten-Free Meals, Computer and Gym Equipment in COVID-19 Quarantine

Celiac.com 02/01/2022 - As the drama over unvaccinated world number one tennis star, Novak Djokovic, continues to unfold, his recent experiences in Australian quarantine are coming into focus. For a bit of perspective, in an effort to gain entry into the Australian Open tennis tournament, Djokovic recently attempted to enter Australia without proof of vaccine, in violation of Australian immigration law.

For his troubles, he was sent to quarantine, pending appeal. When he lost his appeal, he was quickly booted out of the country, and now faces a three year ban on re-entry. In the process, he was unable to play in the Australian Open tennis championships, where he was heavily favored to win.

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Questions of Special Treatment
Numerous people have accused the Australia government of providing special treatment for Djokovic. Regular people in quarantine, people like you and me, rarely get special privileges. Many in quarantine, even people with celiac disease, can face deprivation and long waits to get the get gluten-free food they require.

For non-celebrities in quarantine, conditions at the Park Hotel are not nearly as plush. Just one floor above Djokovic, many of the 30 asylum seekers have been detained more than two years, despite not being charged with any crimes.

As one such detainee, Hossein Latifi told reporters: "We are stuck in our room. There is no fresh air. We don't have any place for training. There is no gym here. It's very hard...We are refugees, we are innocent people - we've not committed any crime. They just keep me like hostage here."

Even before Djokovic's arrival, detainees made allegations that food contained maggots and bread was routinely moldy.

So, it must be nice to not only get gluten-free meal deliveries, but also exercise equipment and a sim-card and computer, as Djokovic recently received during his stay in Australian quarantine.

For his part, Djokovic had plenty of outside help, during his stay in quarantine. According to the Serbian prime minister's office, Serbian officials were "trying everything to make the situation easier for Djokovic."

Meanwhile, questions arose about what seemed to many like special treatment for Djokovic, especially compared to the treatment seen by most non-celebrities in quarantine.

The newspaper, The Australian previously reported, with a seemingly straight face, that the tennis star had been denied any "special treatment." To be fair, Australian immigration officials did turn down Djokovic's requests for access to his personal chef and a tennis court, according to reports. So maybe that's what they meant by receiving "no special treatment."

Certainly, anyone with celiac disease, or any medical condition, facing quarantine, should receive the treatment they require, including gluten-free food. The issue here is that for many non-celebrities, such services and treatments are often not readily available.  

At the end of the day, the issue seems to be one of fairness. Regardless of their wealth or celebrity, everyone deserves the same, decent treatment in detention. If Djokovic can get gluten-free food, exercise equipment and computer access, why can't everyone else in the same situation? 

The easiest, and perhaps unsurprising answer is that there are two standards at work: one for rich celebrities, and one for everyone else.

Under current regulations, Djokovic faces bans on entry to the French Open and the U.S. Open tennis championships--with French authorities barring all non-Covid-vaccinated people, including athletes, from public sporting events, and U.S. immigration rules requiring all non-citizens to provide proof of Covid vaccination to enter the country.

Should Djokovic and his team decide to try their luck again by showing up to either of these countries without getting vaccinated, we may get to see another test of privilege versus rules.

Stay tuned for more on this and related stories.

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