Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has declared the visa of Serbian tennis professional Novak Djokovic to be invalid in a personal decision. The minister announced on Friday that this was well founded and “in the public interest”. A participation of the world number one in the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, is not yet ruled out because the 34-year-old may be able to appeal further. However, it has become less likely.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed the decision. “This pandemic was incredibly difficult for every Australian, but we stuck together and saved lives and livelihoods,” said Morrison in a statement on Friday, emphasizing: “Australians made many sacrifices during this pandemic and they rightly expect that the outcome of these sacrifices is protected. “
Djokovic is not vaccinated against the coronavirus and is therefore a controversial person in the country that has had tough rules since the beginning of the pandemic. On arrival last week, the authorities had already refused Djokovic entry and classified the documents presented as inadequate for his medical exemption.
Because he was not allowed enough time to react, a judge overturned the entry ban during a court hearing on Monday. Djokovic has trained normally since then and prepared for the Australian Open. At the first Grand Slam of the year he is the defending champion, on Thursday his Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic was drawn as an opponent for the first round.
The case has also become a severe stress test for Australian politics
Djokovic was refused entry to Australia at Melbourne Airport last week because he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus and the documentation of his medical exemption was insufficient for the authorities. Because the border officials had not given him the agreed time to clarify, the decision was overturned in court.
The Australian government had announced that it would consider further steps to withdraw Djokovic’s visa. The case also became a severe stress test for the country’s politics after Australia spent many months in tough lockdowns and many of the country’s citizens were also not allowed to enter their homeland for a long time because of the strict rules.
On Wednesday Djokovic denied deliberate misrepresentation and the endangerment of other people, but admitted errors in dealing with his positive test result. Via Instagram, he defended himself against two allegations in particular: Neither did he intentionally give false information about his travel behavior in the 14 days before the flight to the host country of the Australian Open, nor did he have an event with him in December, knowing his positive corona test Visited children and moved there without a mask.
Djokovic described the “misinformation” that needed to be corrected as “hurtful and worrying to my family”. However, he admitted that he was interviewed by the French sports newspaper The team already knew about his positive test result on December 18th and still did not cancel the appointment. “Although I went home after the interview and went into isolation for the prescribed length of time, after thinking more carefully, that was a misjudgment and I understand that I should have postponed this commitment,” he wrote.
The fact that it was incorrectly stated in his entry form that he had not traveled in the 14 days before his flight to Australia was described by Djokovic as a “human error” by his agent, “which was certainly not intentional”.
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