Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic fought against deportation from Australia on Thursday after the government revoked his visa for failing to meet Covid vaccine-entry requirements.
The vaccine-sceptic Serb was stopped by border officials on arrival to Australia late on Wednesday and denied entry into the country.
He is currently being held at an immigration de-tention facility in Melbourne and faces deportation. Djokovic had flown into the city’s Tullamarine Air-port expecting to defend his Australian Open crown, and to bid for an unprecedented 21st Grand Slam title.
He had claimed on Instagram that he had ob-tained an exemption to play in the tournament, which begins on January 17, without being vacci-nated.
The 34-year-old has refused to reveal his vac-cine status publicly, but has previously voiced op-position to being jabbed. He contracted Covid at least once.
But instead of a conquering champion’s return, Djokovic never made it past border control.
Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Djokovic had failed to provide officials with evidence of double vaccination or an adequate medical exemption.
“Rules are rules and there are no special cases,” Morrison said. Australian border officials ques-tioned the sports star overnight and revoked his visa citing a failure to “provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements”.
Djokovic’s lawyers are now arguing against that decision in court, hoping to prevent the star’s depor-tation.
‘Djokovic, justice and truth’
News that Djokovic had received an exemption to arrive in Australia without being vaccinated was met by public outcry.
Australians have been unable to travel or wel-come family from overseas for much of the last two years, thanks to tough pandemic restrictions.
Stephen Parnis, a former Australian Medical Association vice-president, said the exemption sent an “appalling message” to people trying to stop the spread of Covid-19.
But the Serb’s treatment on arrival prompted fury among his fans and a fiercely worded diplo-matic rebuke from Serbia’s president.
“The whole of Serbia is with him and… our au-thorities are undertaking all measures in order that maltreatment of the world’s best tennis player ends as soon as possible,” President Aleksandar Vucic said after speaking with Djokovic over the phone.
“In line with all standards of international public law, Serbia will fight for Novak Djokovic, justice and truth.” Djokovic’s father echoed that nationalis-tic tone, claiming his son had been “held captive for five hours” at Melbourne airport and should return home to a hero’s welcome.
“This is a fight for a libertarian world, this is not just a fight for Novak, but a fight for the whole world,” he told the Russian state-run Sputnik media outlet in Serbia.
Sanja, a 35-year-old Serbian-Australian Djok-ovic fan, had been looking forward to seeing him play in Melbourne.
“He went through a civil war to play tennis. He’s done nothing wrong to the world. If this was Nadal or Federer there wouldn’t be this much hype about it.”
‘No special favour’
Australia’s leaders — wary of public sentiment and mounting Covid problems ahead of an upcoming election — pointed fingers over who was responsi-ble for the saga.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the government made “no apologies” for protecting the border, despite the prime minister earlier suggesting it was up to Melbourne officials.
Tournament organisers were also criticised, with Australian Open chief Craig Tiley insisting the de-fending champion had been given “no special fa-vour” and urging him to reveal why he got the ex-emption to soothe public anger.—AFP
