The Australian government, under pressure because of the Novak Djokovic saga, said on Friday that it will remain firm on the rule of banning entry to the unvaccinated in the country, but its decision whether or not to deport the number a tennis world championship is long overdue.
The 34-year-old Serb continued training in Melbourne on Friday in hopes of winning a 10th Australian Open title, which starts on Monday, and a record 21st Grand Slam victory.
Read alsoPublic training, false suspense and media madness … Djokovic, one more day on borrowed time
But Australian Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison found himself under fire for delaying a decision on whether or not to expel the unvaccinated champion.
Djokovic has admitted incorrectly filling out his entry declaration to Australia, and failing to follow isolation rules after testing positive for Covid-19 in December.
“Nole” had been turned back on his arrival in Melbourne on January 5 and placed in a detention center.
But his lawyers won a resounding victory on January 10, getting a judge to reinstate his visa and order his immediate release.
Thursday's Australian Open draw named Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, ranked 78th in the world, as Djokovic's first-round opponent.
But Immigration Minister Alex Hawke threatened to deport the champion anyway under his discretion.
His services later said the decision was delayed by an avalanche of motions filed by Djokovic's legal team.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham insisted on Friday that Australia would only allow people on full Covid vaccination schedules or those with an acceptable medical exemption to enter its territory.
"This policy has not changed and we will continue to apply this policy rigorously," he said on ABC television.
This saga around the tennis champion has a very strong political charge in Australia, whose inhabitants have endured for almost two years some of the strictest anti-Covid restrictions in the world, and where elections are scheduled for May.
The Immigration Minister “must decide now whether Djokovic leaves or not,” Labor Senator Kristina Keneally tweeted, noting that the Serb got his visa 58 days early.
“The Morrison government is simply incompetent.
It's a joke ".
It puts the whole tournament in danger
Some tennis players have pleaded for Djokovic to be able to participate in the Open, but others are much more critical.
Novak Djokovic "played by his own rules" by choosing not to be vaccinated before the Australian Open and "makes the majority of players look like idiots", said Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number four, on Thursday. in an interview with the Indian media WION.
"It takes a lot of nerve to do it and it puts the whole tournament at risk...I don't think many players would do that," he added.
As the Omicron variant spreads in Australia, Djokovic's behavior after he tested positive for coronavirus in Serbia on December 16 is coming under scrutiny.
The player notably participated in public events, without a mask, on December 16 and 17 in Belgrade, but claimed that he did not yet know he was positive at that time.
In a long message published on Instagram on Wednesday, he however recognized an "error of judgment" for having received, knowing he was asymptomatically ill, the French daily L'Equipe for an interview on December 18.
Djokovic also pleaded "human error" to explain how a wrong box on his Australian entry form was checked.
This document shows that he attested not to have traveled in the 14 days preceding his arrival.
However, he was in Serbia and then in Spain.