Novak Djokovic is under threat of a grand slam exile after he was told he would need to be vaccinated to play at the French Open and Wimbledon gave no guarantees he would be allowed to defend his title this summer.
The French government became the latest to ban those refusing to be vaccinated against coronavirus from the country’s stadiums in a move which will also impact the Six Nations and Chelsea’s Champions League campaign.
Djokovic faces being locked out of three of the four majors, with the United States having already joined Australia in imposing a policy of mandatory vaccinations on foreign visitors.
Wimbledon also provided no assurances that it would allow Djokovic to play – even if the UK government continued to permit unvaccinated overseas sportspeople to come here to compete and train.
Djokovic was deported from Australia on Sunday, and could be banned from re-entering for three years, following an extraordinary saga triggered by his refusal to be jabbed against Covid-19.
He appeared to have been cleared last week to defend both his French Open and Wimbledon titles when the respective governments confirmed they had no plans to ban unvaccinated sportspeople from entering their countries.
