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Novak Djokovic, world number 1 in tennis, is threatened with deportation by Australia, which refused him entry and canceled his visa on Thursday. He filed a lawsuit and obtained a stay until Monday. He came to play the first Grand Slam tournament of the season without proof of vaccination. The incident sparked a diplomatic outcry between Serbia and the land of the Antipodes.
World tennis number one Novak Djokovic was refused entry to Australia on Thursday (January 6) amid an outcry over an initial decision to grant the Serbian player a medical exemption so he could participate in Melbourne at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season without proving his vaccination against Covid-19.
Novak Djokovic challenged the Australian authorities’ decision to cancel his visa and expel him from the country on Thursday. He has obtained not to be deported before a court hearing scheduled for Monday.
Novak Djokovic’s incredible trip “Down Under” sparked a diplomatic incident, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accusing Australia of “mistreating” the champion.
Novak Djokovic was all smiles to announce his departure for Melbourne on his Instagram account on Tuesday. But the Serb, who had opposed compulsory vaccination and whose vaccination status is unknown, was finally disillusioned.
His visa was canceled, with Australian Customs explaining that “(Novak) Djokovic did not provide the appropriate information to enter Australia” and that “foreign nationals who do not have a valid visa or whose visa has been canceled will be detained and deported from Australia. “
No preferential treatment
The fate reserved for “Djoko” has gone badly on the side of Serbia. The Serbian president, saying he spoke to the world No. 1 on the phone, wrote on Instagram that “all of Serbia was with him [Djokovic]”and that” the authorities were taking all necessary measures to put an end to the ill-treatment of the best tennis player in the world as soon as possible “.
Novak Djokovic, silent on his vaccination status, was already in the crosshairs of the Australian political class since he announced that he had obtained a medical exemption to participate in the Australian Open (January 17-30).
If the evidence to support this waiver is “insufficient”, then Novak Djokovic “will not be treated any differently from anyone else, and he will return home by the first plane,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned. .
Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley, also director of the first Grand Slam of the year, however claimed that the world No.1 was not given any preferential treatment to obtain the waiver, in a supervised process. by the Australian authorities and those of the State of Victoria.
A total of 26 players or members of their staff, out of the 3,000 expected in Australia, have requested an exemption and only a few of them have obtained it, he revealed. According to Craig Tiley, the two commissions responsible for examining exemption requests do so without knowing the identity of the applicants.
Nadal puts his two cents in
Spanish champion Rafael Nadal, who contracted Covid-19 last month despite two doses of the vaccine, expressed little sympathy for his Serbian competitor.
“If you are vaccinated you can play the Australian Open and everywhere, and in my opinion the world has suffered enough to break the rules,” said Rafael Nadal. Novak Djokovic “made his own decisions, and everyone is free to make their own decisions, but then there are consequences,” he added.
Already winner of 20 Grand Slams, Novak Djokovic was aiming for a 21e record title in Melbourne. The Australian Open is his favorite tournament: it is in Melbourne that the Serbian won his first Grand Slam (2008), and no player has won there as much as him (nine wins).
For months, “Nole” had cast doubt on his participation in the first Grand Slam of the year, due to the obligation for players to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter Australia.
Novak Djokovic spoke in April 2020 against compulsory vaccination, then considered to allow the resumption of tournaments. “Personally, I am not for vaccines. I would not like someone forcing me to be vaccinated to travel,” he said at the time.
He finally announced Tuesday that he had obtained a medical exemption allowing him to make the trip to Australia. The country’s regulations provide for this type of exemption in five specific cases (having contracted Covid-19 in the previous six months, serious medical contraindication …) but the federation, invoking medical confidentiality, refused to say which one is ‘applied to Novak Djokovic.
His trainer, Goran Ivanisevic, posted on Instagram a photo of him and other members of his staff waiting at the airport while the player was questioned by immigration services.
“It’s not the most ordinary trip Down Under,” commented the former Wimbledon champion.
With AFP
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