Tennis star Novak Djokovic has revealed he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, and will continue to sit out tournaments that require players to have been administered the vaccine.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the Serbian said he was willing to miss future tournaments in order to avoid being vaccinated.
When asked if he had been vaccinated, Djokovic responded: "I have not."
When asked if he was willing to miss the upcoming French Open and Wimbledon, Djokovic responded: "Yes."
When asked if he was willing to forego becoming statistically the greatest male tennis player in history, Djokovic responded: "Yes."
"That is the price I'm willing to pay," he said.
"Because the principles of the decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else.
"I'm trying to be in tune with my body as much as I can. I've always been a great student of wellness, wellbeing, health, nutrition."
While Djokovic said he was yet to be vaccinated, he had not closed the door on receiving the jab at some point in the future, stating he was not against the vaccine as a solution to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I understand and support fully the freedom to choose whether you want to get vaccinated or not, and I have not spoken about this before and I have not disclosed my medical record and my vaccination status because I had the right to keep that private and discreet," he said.
"But as I see there is a lot of wrong conclusions and assumptions out there, I think it's important to speak up about that and justify certain things.
"I understand that globally everyone is trying to put a big effort into handling this virus and seeing, hopefully, an end soon to this virus, and vaccination was probably the biggest effort. Probably half of the world was vaccinated. And I fully respect that.
"I keep my mind open because we're all trying to find collectively a best possible solution to COVID. No-one really wants to be in this kind of situation we've been in collectively for two years."
Djokovic had been aiming to become the first man to record 21 grand slam victories ahead of the 2022 Australian Open, but he was deported before the tournament started in a storm of legal and diplomatic battles.
Rival star Rafael Nadal would go on to win the tournament, claiming his 21st grand slam win to move ahead of Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The 34-year-old said he had been prepared to accept the consequences of not competing in the Australian Open.
"I'm part of the global sport that is played every single week in a different location so I understand the consequences of my decision — and one of the consequences of my decision was not going to Australia, and I was prepared not to go," he said.
"And I understand that not being vaccinated today, that I'm unable to travel to most of the tournaments."
When asked if he was comfortable being used as a symbol of the anti-vaccination movement, Djokovic said he had never identified as being an anti-vaxxer.
"I say that everyone has the right to choose, to act or say whatever they feel is appropriate for them, and I have never said I'm a part of that movement," he said.
"So it's really unfortunate there's been this misconception and wrong conclusion that has been made around the world based upon something I completely disagree with."
Djokovic was initially offered entry into the Australian Open on a medical exemption, causing widespread anger amongst Australians who had endured some of the toughest lockdown conditions in the world.
When asked what his message was to locals who were angry at the decision, Djokovic said he had sympathy for Australians.
"Australia has been through one of the most severe lockdowns that we've had since the beginning of the pandemic, so I can only imagine how hard it was for Australians," he said.
"I sympathise and empathise with all the people, and I understand there has been lots of frustrations from Australians towards me and towards the entire situation and the way it was dealt with, and I understand it as well."
Djokovic was eventually deported on discretionary grounds by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, who feared the tennis star's influence in creating anti-vaccination sentiment.
"I was ready not to go to Australia," he said.
"As much as I love the country and always look forward to going to the Australian summer and participating in the Australian Open, it was a very difficult decision for me because I understood that with the decision that I made there's going to be consequences, and that consequence is me not going to Australia, and I was ready.
"We were following the rules and when there was a possibility for a medical exemption, I was using that, and I applied and put forward my PCR test and sufficient amount of antibodies I had at the time and I got accepted and approved by two independent Australian medical panels anonymously.
"I think that's important to mention. My name was not on the application. Neither was anyone else who applied for medical exemption.
"The reason I was deported from Australia was because the Minister for Immigration used his discretional right to cancel my visa based on his perception that I might create some anti-vaxx sentiment in the country or in the city, which I completely disagree with."
While Djokovic said he would consider changing his mind about receiving a vaccine in the future, he would continue to refuse the shot "as of today".
"I keep my mind open, so there is always a possibility things will change in the future," he said.
"As of today, this is my decision and my stance. I will suffer the consequences of not travelling to the tournaments, but hopefully things will change in the future and I keep my mind open and we'll see what happens."
