But the country’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, personally cancelled his visa, on the grounds that his presence could cause “civil unrest” and encourage anti-vaccine sentiment.
he were to play and win the French Open and Wimbledon, starting in May and June, he would become statistically the greatest male tennis player of all time with 22 Grand Slam victories, overtaking Rafael Nadal, who has 21 after winning in Melbourne.
As it stands, only one of the next two Grand Slams, will let him, as an unvaccinated person, compete.
Last month, French lawmakers approved new rules requiring anyone wanting to enter sports arenas and other public venues to have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
But France’s head of COVID strategy, Professor Alain Fischer, said last week those rules could be scrapped by the “end of March, start of April”, before the tournament begins at Roland-Garros.
Wimbledon organisers are less specific and the tournament website states visitors are subject to common COVID rules.
The guidance in England currently means some venues where large crowds gather or are in close contact may choose to check the COVID-19 status of attendees and the workforce.
This could be done by showing you are fully vaccinated, have taken a recent PCR or lateral flow test, or have a medical exemption.
The Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which runs Wimbledon, were contacted for comment. Both declined to
