NARRATIVES: 1. Simona Halep experienced health problems and was knocked out from the Australian Open because she was vaccinated. 2. While vaccinated players experienced health problems, Novak Djokovic, who didn’t immunize himself, was in top shape.
BACKGROUND: The coronavirus pandemic has seen a very powerful disinformation campaign that focused, among other things, on the origin and nature of SARS-CoV-2, the measures taken by the authorities to contain the spread of COVID-19 or the efficiency of anti-Covid vaccines. The main sources of this global campaign have been Russia, China and the radical right in the West. The narratives stemming from these sources have been widely disseminated, and their popularity suggests that, for their most part, those who amplified them have no connection with the primary sources, falling into the category of so-called “useful idiots”.
The global anti-vaccination movement sided with Novak Djokovic when the player, who has so far refused the vaccine, was prevented from staying in Australia in order to take part in the tournament in Melbourne. As is customary in such situations, a number of false narratives were fabricated and disseminated in worldwide media. Most tennis players enrolled at the Australian Open had taken the anti-Covid jab. This was one of the prerequisites for entering Australia, but the vaccination of tennis players is not something that started with the Australian Open: scores of players had immunized themselves long before the tournament and had taken part in other tournaments fully vaccinated, without ever complaining that the serum had in any way affected their on-court performance.
Activenews is one of the overtly coronasceptic and anti-vaxx publications on the Romania media market. On several occasions, Veridica has debunked fake news and disinformation narratives promoted by activenews with respect to the alleged side-effects of anti-Covid vaccines.
The articles that imply – or clearly state – that anti-Covid vaccination reportedly killed people are published on a regular basis on activenews: during the first three days of the week, during which time the publication also covered Simona Halep’s participation, activenews published articles suggesting that the anti-Covid vaccine is responsible for the deaths of Bessarabian journalist Valeriu Vulcan, former Hungarian gymnast Szilveszter Csollany and American actor Vachik Mangassarian.
PURPOSE: To undermine and discredit the anti-Covid vaccination campaign.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The symptoms described by Simona Halep during the match she played in the Australian Open round of 16 are common signs of heat exhaustion. The player herself actually said she felt slumped due to the high temperatures. Furthermore, this is not the first time Simona Halep struggled with extreme heat at the Australian Open. After the final she played in 2018 (two years before the coronavirus outbreak and thus vaccination), at a time when Halep was at the top of her game, she had to be admitted to hospital overnight and she took several months to fully recover. Besides, in her previous 11 appearances at the Australian Open, the player moved past the round of 16 five times, and another five times she was knocked out before ever reaching this phase.
Simona Halep is not an isolated case. In 2009, Novak Djokovic himself retired from the quarterfinal match against Andy Roddick due to heat exhaustion. The issue of excessive heat at the Australian Open and the impact it has on players has long been debated, and has been criticized in the past, especially in 2014, when several players complained about heat exhaustion at the end of the tournament. Moreover, the Australian Open is hardly the only tennis tournament where players in the men’s and the women’s competitions have experienced health issues caused by high temperatures.
As regards the false narrative about Novak Djokovic being more heat-tolerant at the Australian Open this year, the Serbian player didn’t even compete in the main draw, so he couldn’t have faced the same pressure experienced by players who actually put a lot of physical effort in the competition. Besides, players’ tolerance to physical effort and extreme heat differs extensively, depending on a wide array of factors, such as medical history, players’ level of fitness, metabolic processes, hydration, etc. Every match at the Australian Open ended with one player moving on to the next phase and the other being knocked out (while both contenders were vaccinated). Simona Halep managed to reach an advanced phase of the tournament following a series of matches where she played well and coped better with the heat.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Simona Halep felt unwell during the round of 16 match at the Australian Open.
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