Australia rejects Djokovic – and he goes to court
His alleged special permit for the Australian Open was outraged worldwide. Now the tennis star has been refused entry. Serbia’s President speaks of mistreatment. Djokovic’s lawyers try to challenge the decision.
Actually everything looked wonderful to him, but for now he’s stuck at the airport: Novak Djokovic.
Photo: AFP
At 11:30 p.m. local time, the Emirates scheduled flight with Novak Djokovic landed at Tullamarine airfield in Melbourne on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, local time, the tennis player was still stuck there. The reason: his visa has been canceled and he has to leave the country on Thursday. He was unable to provide sufficient evidence of his special permit to enter the country without a vaccination.
Lawyers of the world’s number one appealed against the visa revocation before a court in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon, as the Australian news portal “The Age” reported. Accordingly, they were still looking for documents and should be heard by Judge Anthony Kelly during the day.
“A fight for the whole world”
Anyone entering Australia must ensure that they are entitled to do so and that they can prove it, said Prime Minister Scott Morrison. This requires proof of a double vaccination or a valid medical exemption. “If you don’t follow the rules, the border guards will do their job – and they did their job.” The intervention of the Serbian embassy in Australia does not change that. “Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our limits,” wrote Morrison on Twitter. “Nobody stands above these rules.” The Australian border protection authorities therefore had the 34-year-old Djokovic brought to a hotel for those obliged to leave the country.
–Not Melbourne’s best address: the quarantine hotel where Novak Djokovic is staying.
Photo: Keystone
The entourage of the athlete reacted with incomprehension and frustration. His son was being held in a guarded room, father Srdjan Djokovic was quoted as saying in Serbian media. He has “no idea what’s going on here”. His son is the “Spartacus” of a new world – one who “does not tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy”.
He later wrote the word “Deportation!” On the Instagram platform after the Australian authorities refused entry to the tennis professional. “Our pride, our Novak returns … We should all welcome him as he deserves!”
Vaccination exemption caused violent reactions
In Serbia, the news of Djokovic’s treatment caused a public outcry. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that he had spoken to Djokovic on the phone and told him that “all of Serbia is with him”. The Serbian authorities would “take all measures to stop the abuse of the best tennis player in the world as soon as possible”.
On Tuesday, after weeks of silence, Djokovic announced that he would fly to Australia thanks to such a special permit. He has still not made his vaccination status public. If he were vaccinated, he would not need a special permit either.
His alleged vaccination exemption triggered vehement reactions far beyond the sports world and caused a shit storm on social media – especially in Australia. The organizers of the Grand Slam starting on January 17th and the government were not spared. The comments were as unanimous as seldom. Tenor: You should boycott the tournament, where Djokovic could have achieved the record of 21 Grand Slam titles, or boycott him permanently.
“It is sad for the people of this country who have repeatedly been denied travel during the pandemic, even to see their loved ones dying.”
“You must be Djoking”, played the British “Daily Mail” with words – that was probably a joke. The television station ABC spoke of “anger and confusion” across the Australian continent. “The West Australian” went even further, who wrote: “The Djoker has turned into the Joker and shamelessly assigned himself the role of villain before starting his attempt to rule the tennis world.” “The Herald Sun” judged the exemption as “sick hypocrisy”. The extra sausage for the most likely unvaccinated is insulting to every Australian who has gone “through hell” because of Covid.
It was foreseeable that Djokovic would face an icy wind in Australia. “It is sad for the people of this country who have been denied international and interstate travel time and again during this pandemic, even to see their loved ones dying. For those separated from their children or unable to attend the funeral of a close friend or family member, ”wrote The Canberra Times.
But nobody expected this development. It started while the nine-time Melbourne winner was in the air. According to “The Age”, the border protection agency learned of problems with the visa that had been submitted for the Serb. This should not allow entry with a special permit, it was said at first.
No help to Djokovic from the Victorian government
The border guards then turned to the government of the state of Victoria for support for the tennis player. But there they showed no mercy for the guest, who had not been asked by many, and this request was refused. This representation was confirmed by the Minister of Sport Jaala Pulford on Twitter.
Australian Interior Minister Karen Andrews had meanwhile stated that entry into the country was not guaranteed even with a special permit for the tennis tournament. “No person who takes part in the Australian Open is given special treatment,” she said. Prime Minister Morrison also made it clear at a media conference: “If he is not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable evidence that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons so that the same travel rules apply to him as those who are fully vaccinated.” To which he added that otherwise Djokovic would “sit on the next plane home”.
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley had meanwhile distanced himself from the most important figure in the tournament: It would be “helpful” if the Serb explained why he had come to this exception, according to Tiley. At first, that was not even possible because, according to various sources, Djokovic first sat across from the Australian authorities for hours without a mobile phone and without his team after his arrival.
On Wednesday it was also announced that a total of only 26 applications from Australian Open travelers had been received to be able to enter the country without a full vaccination. Only “a handful” of these were approved by two different groups of experts on an anonymous basis. The most common reason was that a vaccination was impossible due to a Covid disease in the past six months.
In addition to all the resentment, the case also inspired humor. Matt Walsh, a reporter at ESPN, joked: “If you kick Djokovic out of the tournament, you probably never have to pay for a beer again in Australia.” And on Twitter there was a picture that shows Federer and Nadal as customs officials – they would be accommodating if the Serb did not win his 21st Grand Slam title, as they are currently sharing the record with him.
Found a bug? Report it now.
–
