Kelly Slater to be banned from surfing in Australia

January 19, 2022

Surfing legend Kelly Slater will be BANNED from competing in Australia if he’s unvaccinated – as he’s warned ‘rules apply to everyone’ in wake of Novak Djokovic saga

Kelly Slater may face a similar fate to Novak Djokovic if he travels to Australia
The surfing icon is yet to reveal his vaccination status and may be refused entry
Australian sports minister says the American has ‘no chance’ if he’s not jabbed

Surfing icon Kelly Slater will be banned from competing in Australia if he refuses to get the Covid jab, the Sports Minister Richard Colbeck has warned.

The 11-time world surfing champion, 49, has is yet to reveal his vaccination status but has made waves online railing against jab mandates and posting anti-vax rhetoric to his social media pages during the pandemic.

Mr Colbeck said the American will face a wipeout similar to world No. 1 tennis star Novak Djokovic who was sensationally booted from the country on the eve of the Australian Open, if he fails to prove he’s vaccinated.

Surfing icon Kelly Slater (pictured at the Margaret River Pro in Western Australia in 2019) will be banned from competing in Australia if he refuses to get the Covid jab

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‘I reckon he knows the rules. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a surfer, or a tennis player, a tourist or anyone else, those are the rules. They apply to everyone,’ the Sports Minister told the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘I don’t like the chances of him competing in Victoria, and I’d hate to think of what the chances were of him competing in Western Australia.’

The Australian government is taking a hard line on unvaccinated international athletes looking to compete Down Under, as the nation faces a surging rate of Covid cases and supply chain chaos.

All non-citizens are restricted from travelling to Australia if they haven’t had the jab, although in some rare cases exemptions can be approved.

Slater’s skeptical stance on the life-saving vaccines has raised eyebrows during the pandemic.

The 11-time world surfing champion, 49 (pictured with partner Kalani Miller), is yet to reveal his vaccination status but has railed against jab mandates and posted anti-vax rhetoric to his social media pages

Senator Richard Colbeck said the American (pictured at Pipeline in Hawaii) will face a similar situation to world No. 1 tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was sensationally booted from the country on the eve of the Australian Open, if he fails to prove he’s vaccinated

‘If I know the risks (informed consent) and I judge the choice to be one that benefits/hurts me based on stats and info and my own ability (health), I can choose accordingly,’ he said on Instagram about the Covid jab.

‘For people saying listen to the doctors, I’m positive I know more about being healthy than 99 per cent of doctors, but I wouldn’t trust me. But most of my Covid info comes directly from doctor friends, many of them in disagreement with the official “science”.’

He has also claimed some of his friends have ‘literally died’ from the vaccine and that it made his mother’s quality of life suffer.

Slater copped a heavy backlash when he said Covid is a ‘disease of obese, unhealthy, and elderly,’ claiming the virus ‘exposes the unhealthy underlying patterns and issues in people’.

Medical experts have dismissed the surfing legend’s comments.

Another possible exclusion from Australian World Surf league events is the reigning champion Gabriel Medina.

Slater’s skeptical stance on life-saving vaccines has raised eyebrows during the pandemic

The 28-year-old Brazilian may also miss out on Bells Beach and the Margaret River Pro in April with his vaccination status still unknown.

He had refused to get the Covid jab before the Tokyo Olympics but later said he planned to get vaccinated soon.

Andrew Stark, the WSL Asia-Pacific general manager, said there is no mandate for surfers to get vaccinated but added the league will ‘stringently follow the set government entry guidelines of each country we visit for our events’.

‘We encourage everyone who is able to get vaccinated and have advised everyone associated with the WSL that unvaccinated individuals may face significant challenges as they travel around the world and may be prohibited from entering certain countries,’ he said.

WHY VACCINES ARE IMPORTANT

Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them.

Immunisation not only protects individuals, but also others in the community, by reducing the spread of preventable diseases.

Research and testing is an essential part of developing safe and effective vaccines.

In Australia, vaccines must pass strict safety testing before the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will register them for use. Approval of vaccines can take up to 10 years.

Before vaccines become available to the public, large clinical trials test them on thousands of people.

High-quality studies over many years have compared the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Medical information from nearly 1.5 million children around the world have confirmed that vaccination does not cause autism.

People first became concerned about autism and immunisation after the medical journal The Lancet published a paper in 1998. This paper claimed there was a link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Since then, scientists have completely discredited this paper. The Lancet withdrew it in 2010 and printed an apology. The UK’s General Medical Council struck the author off the medical register for misconduct and dishonesty.

Source: Australian Department of Health

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