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Novak Djokovic training in Melbourne
Photo: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
Four days after the court success, Novak Djoković is still awaiting a decision on his visa to Australia and the opportunity to defend his title at the Australian Open. Even on Friday afternoon local time in Melbourne, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke had not yet given any signal as to whether he would use his personal right to invalidate the 34-year-old Serb's visa because he was not vaccinated against the corona virus. Meanwhile, the number one in the world rankings trained early in the day instead of in the afternoon as originally planned.
Hawke gets pressure from Australian politics for the long hesitation.
“Alex Hawke, where are you?
Missing?" Senator Jacqui Lambie asked on Friday, according to the Australian news agency AAP.
»If you can't make a decision about Novak Djokovic, my goodness, how do you people run the country?
It's an absolute mess.' She went on to say that Djokovic should be sent to pack if he broke the rules.
Hawke continues to have no comment.
Australian journalists report that people around him say there is a tendency to invalidate Djokovic's visa - but until the afternoon it was nothing more than rumours.
After the fiasco for the government in the first court case, when Djoković had to be handed his visa again due to a formal error, the minister apparently wants to make a decision this time that will withstand the objections that Djoković's lawyers are sure to expect in the event of renewed expulsion .
Djokovic is not vaccinated and, in the case of a medical exemption for entry, only refers to a corona infection that he survived in mid-December.
Immigration Minister Hawke must decide whether the visa should be canceled again.
According to Australian media reports, Djokovic's lawyers are already preparing to challenge another record-breaking Grand Slam champion's visa.
The pressure on Hawke is great from many sides.
With the exception of the Serbian community, the mood in Australia is clearly against Djoković.
Many Australians have experienced a great deal of deprivation in the almost two years of the pandemic.
ara/dpa