Howard Stern calls for Djokovic to be banned from tennis

‘The first I’ve heard of this guy is that he doesn’t want to get his vaccine. They should throw him right the f**k out of tennis’

Radio host Howard Stern has called for world number one Novak Djokovic to be banned from tennis because of his anti-vaccine stance.

Mr Stern has previously slammed NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, saying that he should be banned from the football league for the same reason.

Mr Djokovic has not been vaccinated against Covid-19. He’s now being investigated by the Australian Border Force for possibly submitting false travel documents to gain entrance into the country to take part in the Australian Open.

“That f**knut Djokovic,” Mr Stern said on his SiriusXM programme. “What a f**king asshole.”

“The first I’ve heard of this guy is that he doesn’t want to get his vaccine. They should throw him right the f**k out of tennis. That’s it. Goodbye,” he added.

Mr Stern claimed that Mr Djokovic “could be lying” about having been infected with the virus.

“You should be out of tennis. He doesn’t care about anyone else,” Mr Stern added. “Stay away from other people. That’s like saying smoking is a private decision. Well, that’s true. But don’t smoke in my face f**knut. What a dummy. Just a big dumb tennis player.”

“If you wanna talk tennis I’ll talk to you. Other than that you should shut your mouth,” Mr Stern said, referring to Mr Djokovic.

Mr Djokovic admitted on Wednesday that he didn’t isolate directly after testing positive for Covid-19 last month. But he denied being aware that he was positive while attending public events.

He also apologised for a travel declaration that appeared to have been false, saying in a statement that it had been submitted for him by a support staff member in what he called a “human error”.

Mr Djokovic added that it had been an “error of judgment” for him to speak to the media and attend a photo shoot with a French sports paper after testing positive.

Both the reporter and photographer for L’Equipe were not made aware that the tennis player was positive for Covid-19 either during or after the Belgrade interview, the paper reported on Wednesday.

“I want to address the continuing misinformation about my activities and attendance at events in December in the lead up to my positive PCR Covid test result,” Mr Djokovic said in the statement.

“This is misinformation which needs to be corrected, particularly in the interest of alleviating broader concern in the community about my presence in Australia, and to address matters which are very hurtful and concerning to my family,” he added.

“I want to emphasise that I have tried very hard to ensure the safety of everyone and my compliance with testing obligations,” he said.

Mr Djokovic had his visa cancelled after arriving in Melbourne last week for entering the country without a proper exemption to Australia’s vaccination requirements. A judge ruled on Monday that he should be allowed to stay.

While the judge has overturned the visa cancellation, Mr Djokovic could still be booted from the country.

A spokesperson for Australian immigration minister Alex Hawke said on Wednesday that he’s “considering whether to cancel Mr Djokovic’s visa under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act”.

“Mr Djokovic’s lawyers have recently provided lengthy further submissions and supporting documentation said to be relevant to the possible cancellation of Mr Djokovic’s visa. Naturally, this will affect the timeframe for a decision,” the spokesperson added.