Novak Djokovic had a little good news this Sunday, in relation to his intention to participate in the Australian Open. Is that the Melbourne Circuit Court reported that the hearing on the revocation of the Serbian tennis player’s visa will be held on Monday at 10 (local time), as scheduled.
In this way, the lawyers of the Government of Australia they lost an appeal asking for the resolution to be delayed until Wednesday.
The request, made by the Australian Ministry lawyers, was raised after the tennis player’s lawyers presented a 35-page document in court this Saturday in which they alleged that world number one received a medical exemption. However, Judge Anthony Kelly rejected the appeal.
Djokovic, who never wanted to reveal if he was vaccinated, is isolated from thursday in a Melbourne hotel waiting for the Justice to review his case, after trying to enter the country without having received any dose against him coronavirus.
The lawyers of the current world number 1, winner of the Australian Open nine times, assure that the tennis player tested positive for covid on December 16, 2021 and that two weeks later he was recovered, so that on January 1 he had been provided permission to enter Australia without being vaccinated.
Last Thursday, the tennis player’s legal team asked the court for a definitive answer on the deportation for this Tuesday for reasons of programming the Australian Open, which Held in Melbourne from January 17-30. Anyway, the judge marked the court for them and replied that, in this case, “the tail is not going to move the dog.”
In the midst of an international uproar, Australian authorities Djokovic’s visa was revoked for failing to comply with the measures against covid-19 upon his arrival in the oceanic country, on Wednesday night.
Anti-vaccine activists and migrant advocates expressed their support for Nole, in front of the place where he is isolated. Photo: William WEST / AFP
Despite the argument of the Serbian’s lawyers, several photos published on social networks show how the world’s number one tennis player participated in public events on December 16, when the Serbian postal service released a series of stamps in his honor, and also the next day, when he participated in a event for young players, organized in Belgrade.
Meanwhile, Djokovic remains isolated at the former Park Hotel, a five-story Melbourne facility that houses some 32 people trapped by Australia’s harsh immigration system, which became much more rigid even during the covid-19 pandemic.
The center became known last year when a fire broke out that forced migrants to evacuate and the food was reported to have worms.
A handful of protesters gathered Sunday morning on the street in front of the shelter, where hundreds of Djokovic supporters, anti-vaccine activists and migrant advocates marched a day earlier.
The Australian position
The authorities of the oceanic country insist that the proof of a recent infection of COVID-19 only allows to grant exemption to residents, not to foreigners seeking to enter the country. Australia still restricts the entry of outsiders, and those who receive authorization must have a full vaccination or have a medical exemption.
The tennis player’s lawyers argued that faced an “unfair procedure” because Australian border agents held him for eight hours at Melbourne airport, almost always “incommunicado”.
Djokovic asked for time to rest and consult with his lawyers but the immigration agents convinced him to allow them to make an immediate decision, which was to cancel his visa, according to the lawyers.
Also, his requests to transfer to another facility where he can train for the Australian Open have been ignored, according to lawyers.
The photo that condemns him: Novak Djokovic with young tennis players, a day after his positive test for Covid-19.
The Serbian Prime Minister, Ana BrnabicHe said at the weekend that his country backs the player and had “constructive talks” with the Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne.
“We managed to get him to get gluten-free food, exercise equipment, a computer,” Brnabic told Serbian television Pink.
In an internal video released on Saturday, the director of Tennis Australia, Craig Tiley, assured, for his part, that the entity had done “everything it could.”
Although Australia tightened restrictions to combat a wave of infections linked to the omicron variant, the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, registered 44,155 cases on Sunday.
The Renata Voracova case
For her part, the Czech tennis player Renata Voracova, what was arrested last Thursday After Australian authorities canceled his visa, he left Australia on Saturday.
Voracova, who had been in Australia since December and had already played a preparation match prior to the Australian Open, had obtained a medical exemption to enter the country as she was not fully vaccinated.
Australia requires travelers to have the complete schedule of the covid-19 vaccine or a valid medical exemption to enter the country.
With information from AFP and EFE.
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