Unvaccinated tennis players could end up participating in the Australian Open at the beginning of next year, despite officials’ recent threats that those without the COVID-19 vaccine will not be granted visas, according to a leaked email from Australia Tennis.

Alex Hawke, Australia’s minister for immigration, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio last week that participants will need both doses of the vaccine to be eligible to participate – a measure that applies to anyone trying to enter the country.

“You’ll need to be double vaccinated to visit Australia,” Hawke said, via Reuters. “That’s a universal application, not just to tennis players. I mean that every visitor to Australia will need to be double vaccinated.”

Tennis insider Ben Rothenberg posted an email to Twitter on Sunday from the sport’s governing body that was sent to WTA. The email laid out the guidelines of participation for vaccinated and unvaccinated players, which includes “two weeks hard quarantine” for the latter.

“We feel the need to reach out to you all to clear up false and misleading information that has recently been spread by other parties about the conditions that players will be forced to endure at next year’s Australian Open,” the email read.

According to the leaked email, unvaccinated players would be allowed to participate in the Australian Open after undergoing a “two weeks hard quarantine,” a negative test 72 hours before leaving, and regular testing.

source foxnews.com