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As Novak Djokovic aims for an extraordinary ninth Australian Open title, the man who ran the tournament in its defining period has called the treatment of the world’s top player by the ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, both unprecedented and “outrageous”.
Paul McNamee, the former Davis Cup player and doubles champion who was tournament director of the Australian Open from 1995 until 2006, acknowledges that Djokovic’s personality “rubs Aussies up the wrong way”, but says that the eight-time Australian Open champion has not been protected by the ATP from external attacks, because of his formation of a breakaway player union last year.
In this special episode of the Real Footy podcast, Michael Gleeson, Caroline Wilson and Jake Niall discuss Eddie McGuire and the end of his Collingwood presidency.
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Eddie McGuire is taking a break of indeterminate length from his football media duties following his exit from Collingwood, with a degree of uncertainty about when he will return to his hosting and commentary roles for AFL-related shows.
McGuire said at his final media conference as Collingwood president that “with the indulgence” of his media partners he would “take a break for a a little while to regroup and heal”.
While McGuire has gone to ground and not commented since he announced his exit from the Collingwood presidency, sources who had been in contact with the media personality said he could take a break of a few months as he regroups, but it was not clear how long his break from those duties would last.