“Be it F1, grand slams, majors in golf, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games” – Australian Grand Prix is set to return after a two-year hiatus, and wants to run it as smoothly as possible.
Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott believes the entire world, including them, has learnt from the Novak Djokovic saga which tarnished his image, and got him booted out of the nation.
For those unaware, the unvaccinated Serbian landed in the country for the Australian Open without meeting the federal coronavirus requirements. As a result, after a long-drawn legal battle, he was asked to return to his homeland, effectively cancelling his participation in a tournament he has mastered the art of winning.
“It’s a massive global story, and it’s been out there for every sports fan and every sports journalist across the globe to report on, and therefore it’s brought focus on Melbourne and focus on the issue.
“Because of the outcome of that issue, it hasn’t necessarily been observed favourably in the same way you get positive kudos at the end of staging these wonderful tournaments.
“Major events are a double-edged sword, and you always see this in the lead-up to and the staging of massive events, be it F1, grand slams, majors in golf, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games.
“If you stage them well, you get pats on the back, and if you stage them poorly or there are issues, you’re judged in the court of public opinion. That’s what has happened here, and it’s up to sports fans or sports journalists [to] say whether we’ve lost our gloss.
“But there’s no doubt people have been sitting in judgement and observing it in many areas, and I know that because we deal with a lot of people on a global basis.”
Australian GP learning from Australian Open saga
Westacott has been following the global sporting events that have taken place ever since Covid, and learning how they frame their protocols around it.
And now with the tennis no.1 dragging him into yet another controversy, the Australian GP is eager and cautious to avoid any such problems when it stages its race in April.
“If you look at the cancellation of our event on March 13, 2020, and the staging of the next event, which will be April 2022, there have been 41 events around the world staged, and in every one of those jurisdictions there have been different stages of the pandemic and different border entry conditions.
“In every one of those, Formula 1 has been able to operate and retain business continuity. It’s a mandatory requirement for the sport and the travelling contingent to be compliant at the points of entry, and they’ll be compliant at the point of entry in Australia and Melbourne.”
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