Australian Championship 2022
Drama in Australia: Court Rejects Novak Djokovic's Request
The affair ends in great disappointment for the Serb: The Australian Supreme Court has announced that the tennis player's appeal has been rejected "by unanimous decision", and he will be deported from the country after the immigration minister revoked his visa.
Djokovic will not be able to compete in the Australian Open and defend his title
Walla!
sport
16/01/2022
Sunday, 16 January 2022, 08:49 Updated: 09:05
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Novak Djokovic's fans support him outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne, Australia (from Twitter)
The Supreme Court of Australia announced this morning (Sunday) that Novak Djokovic's appeal has been rejected "by unanimous decision" and he will be deported from the country.
He will not be able to take part in the Australian Open and defend his title, in a tournament that starts tomorrow (Monday) in Melbourne.
The court has in effect upheld the government's decision to revoke Djokovic's visa, putting an end to the unvaccinated tennis star's hopes of winning the Australian Open for the tenth time and breaking a record of 21 Grand Slam wins for men.
In a ruling in the case, which has rocked Australia and the entire sports world for more than a week, three federal court judges have heard government lawyers' arguments that Djokovic's presence could back up vaccine opponents during the worst Australian outbreak of corona since the epidemic began.
A medical exemption that allowed top-ranked Serbian tennis to enter the country without being vaccinated provoked outrage in Australia, and became a political issue.
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To the full article
Novak Djokovic on his way to court hearing on decision to deport him from Australia (Photo: Reuters)
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During the hearing the debate between the parties was mainly regarding the Australian Government's claim that Djokovic is a vaccine opponent, whose presence may incite the fight against vaccines and give power to opponents, thus increasing the flames and protests.
His lawyers claimed that even last year he was not vaccinated, and no problems arose, and in fact in all the tournaments he has been in the past year there have been no special cases around him on the subject.
In fact, Djokovic's representatives claimed that the person who made him a "hero of the vaccine refusers" was the Australian government in its "unexplained and irrational" behavior.
On the other hand, representatives of the state again mentioned the defiant behavior of the Serb, when in the past he organized a tournament where he did not follow instructions and many around him stuck, and also last December although he was positive appeared in public without a mask and left his house and broke the isolation.
Novak Djokovic on his way to court hearing on decision to deport him from Australia (Photo: Reuters)
As you may recall, on Friday Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke decided to revoke Djokovic's visa, stating that he should be deported from the country as soon as possible. It all started early last week, when the unvaccinated Djokovic landed in Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Championship which kicks off on 17 January, but was stopped at the airport after authorities claimed he did not meet medical criteria to be ruled out and take part in the tournament. It is alleged that he lied in the forms he submitted upon landing in Melbourne, in which he reported that he had not left Serbia in the two weeks before his arrival, even though he had traveled to Spain to train.
Australia had already ordered his deportation earlier this week, but the world-ranked Serb appealed the decision, and the court accepted his appeal and ordered that he be allowed to participate in the games, arguing that the failures and misunderstandings were primarily the responsibility of the relevant Australian authorities.
As stated, on Friday the Minister of Immigration used his special authority to overturn the court decision and ruled that Djokovic would be deported from the country.
However, Djokovic refused to give up and his lawyers filed a new appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Novak Djokovic
Australia