Novak Djokovic, threatened with deportation by Australia, which canceled his visa, obtained a stay until Monday, but was preparing to spend his second night in detention on Thursday, new episode of an incredible saga that has turned to the diplomatic incident.
• Read also: Tennis: visa canceled for Djokovic; Serbia accuses Australia of “bad treatment”
The Serbian, turned back on Wednesday evening on his arrival in Melbourne where he intended to participate in the Australian Open tennis tournament (January 17-30), lodged an appeal against the authorities’ decision to deny him entry.
During a first hearing Thursday before a Melbourne judge, a government lawyer said the deportation would not come until another hearing scheduled for Monday.
Judge Anthony Kelly, before whom Thursday’s hearing took place, warned that justice would take its course without haste and without being influenced by the controversy. “The rider will not let himself be led by his mount,” he warned.
A motley handful of supporters – from Serbs waving flags, anti-vaccines and migrant advocates – gathered outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne on Thursday, a controversial facility used by the government to detain people in an irregular situation, and where Djokovic is supposed to be.
Maggots in food
This hotel, in front of which protests regularly take place, has a bad reputation. A fire broke out there in December, forcing his evacuation. The selected people complained on social networks, with photos to support them, of finding maggots and molds in the food. In October, 21 people there contracted Covid-19.
“Why didn’t you tell him anything before he came to Australia?” Why now ? I have a lot of questions. (…) I love Australia, but what you are doing now is a shame for you, ”Gordana, a Serbian who lived 26 years in Australia, got carried away with AFP.
At least one person was apprehended as law enforcement attempted to disperse the protesters.
The father of world No.1, Srdjan Djokovic, called for another demonstration of support for “Nole” in Belgrade.
Djokovic had announced, with a smile on his face, his departure for Melbourne on Instagram on Tuesday. But the Serb, who had opposed compulsory vaccination and whose vaccination status is unknown, was finally disillusioned.
His visa was canceled after authorities explained that he had not provided the correct information.
The fate reserved for “Djoko” has gone badly on the side of Serbia. Its president Aleksandar Vucic wrote on Instagram that “all of Serbia was with him (Djokovic)” and that “the authorities were taking all necessary measures to ensure that the mistreatment of the best tennis player in the world ceases as soon as possible”.
Serbian daily Informer headlined “a shame”: “The biggest scandal of all time! The best tennis player on the planet will be deported from Australia. “
Djokovic was already in the crosshairs of the Australian political class after the announcement of his medical exemption to participate in the Australian Open.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who contracted COVID-19 last month despite two doses of the vaccine, has expressed little sympathy for his Serbian rival.
“If you’re vaccinated you can play the Australian Open and everywhere, and in my opinion the world has suffered enough to break the rules,” Nadal said. Djokovic “made his own decisions, and everyone is free to make their own decisions, but then there are consequences,” he added.
“Not for vaccines”
“If he has an exemption, then he should be here. If something went wrong with his papers and they did not let him in, well it happens sometimes, ”for his part philosophized the Russian Daniil Medvedev. “I have had a lot of visa issues in my career,” he said.
Already a winner of 20 Grand Slams, like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic was aiming for a record 21st Australian Open title, a tournament he has won nine times.
For months, “Nole” had left doubts about his participation because of the obligation to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter Australia.
Djokovic spoke in April 2020 against compulsory vaccination. “Personally, I am not for vaccines. I would not like someone to force me to be vaccinated to travel, ”he said.
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 rare cases.
Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic posted a photo on Instagram of him and other members of his staff waiting at the airport while the player was questioned by immigration officials.
“This is not the most ordinary trip ‘Down Under’,” commented the former Wimbledon champion.
Serbian President denounces “political hunt” against Djokovic
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday denounced “a political hunt” against Novak Djokovic, whose visa was canceled by the Australian authorities.
“What is not” fair play “is the political chase (against Djokovic, Editor’s note) in which all participate, from the Prime Minister of Australia, claiming that the rules are valid for all”, a Aleksandar Vucic told the press.
The Serbian president noted that several players were allowed to enter Australia under the same conditions, but not the world No.1.
The Serbian authorities, he stressed, are doing “everything possible” to help Djokovic, adding that Belgrade has contacted the Australian ambassador to Serbia on two occasions and that Prime Minister Ana Brnabic must meet with a senior official of the Australian Department of Immigration and Borders.
Belgrade intends to ask the Australian authorities to allow Djokovic to stay in the house he had rented for the Australian Open and not in the hotel where he is now and which Mr. Vucic described as “infamous in the proper meaning of the term ”.
“I’m afraid that kind of political hunger on Novak will continue, because when you can’t beat someone then you turn to this stuff,” he added.
Australia on Thursday canceled the visa for Djokovic, who arrived at Melbourne airport without the necessary documents to enter the country, Australian customs said.
The world No. 1 in tennis, who has never hidden his skepticism about vaccination, had obtained a medical exemption to be able to travel to Melbourne to play there the first Grand Slam tournament of the year ( January 17-30), which he has already won nine times.