d b a
Posted on: Sunday, January 9, 2022 – 11:18 AM | Last update: Sunday, January 9, 2022 – 11:18 am
An Australian court has rejected a request by lawyers from the Australian Ministry of the Interior to postpone the hearing of the appeal submitted by the Serbian tennis star, Novak Djokovic, the number one in the world, regarding the cancellation of his entry visa to the country to participate in the Australian Open.
Accordingly, the appeal submitted by Djokovic will be considered tomorrow, Monday, to determine his fate from participating in the first of the four Grand Slam tournaments of the current season.
Australian Home Office lawyers asked the Union Circuit Court to postpone the hearing of Djokovic’s appeal for two days, to Wednesday instead of Monday, but that request was rejected by Judge Anthony Kelly.
The postponement of the appeal until Wednesday would have prevented Djokovic from participating in the tournament, by which time he would have exceeded the deadline for registration in the list of players participating in the tournament, which begins on January 17 next.
Yesterday, Saturday, Djokovic’s lawyers said that he had obtained a medical exemption allowing him to enter Australia and participate in the Australian Open without receiving a vaccine against the Corona virus, given that he contracted the infection last month.
And the British news agency “PA Media” reported that judicial documents published yesterday, Saturday, showed that Djokovic’s examination came with a positive result on December 16, and that he had not had a fever or respiratory problems during the last 72 hours.
Djokovic has been detained in an immigration facility in Melbourne since last Thursday morning, after his visa was revoked after reviewing the medical exemption he had obtained to travel to Australia and participate in the first of the four Grand Slam tournaments of this season.
Djokovic’s lawyers said that the player received a letter from the medical officer of the Australian Tennis Federation stating that he had obtained a medical exemption from receiving a vaccination with the Corona vaccine.
The waiver was reported to have been “submitted by an expert medical review panel authorized by the Tennis Australia” and that “the panel’s decision was reviewed and endorsed by the independent Exemption Review Panel appointed by the Victorian Government”.
Djokovic’s lawyers added that he obtained an Australian travel permit after authorities informed him that he had met the requirements to enter Australia without being subject to quarantine.