Ryanair roasts Novak Djokovic over anti-vax comments

Novak Djokovic has revealed he would rather remain unvaccinated than defend his Wimbledon or French Open titles.

The tennis player was deported from Melbourne last month ahead of the Australian Open over concerns about his vaccine status.

When asked whether he would sacrifice participating in another tournament if they required mandatory vaccination, Djokovic told the BBC in an interview: “Yes, that is the price I’m willing to pay.

“I say that everybody has the right to choose or act or say or feel whatever is appropriate for them.”

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The 34-year-old, who is not vaccinated against Covid-19, said he would forego the tournaments “because the principles of 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 possibly can,” he added.

But he has distanced himself from the anti-vaccination movement.

He said: “I have never said I’m part of that movement.

“It’s really unfortunate that there has been this kind of misconception and wrong conclusion based upon something that I completely disagree with,” he added.

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He told the broadcaster he was “keeping [his] mind open” to the possibility of getting vaccinated in the future “because we are all trying to find collectively, a best possible solution to end Covid”.

“I was never against vaccination. 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.”

Djokavic’s interview has been met with a mixed response.

Budget airline Ryanair joked in a Tweet: “We’re not an airline but we do fly planes”,