melbourne | The Australian government relaunched the Djokovic saga on Friday by once again canceling his visa, which could lead, unless there is a twist, to the expulsion before the start of the Australian Open on Monday of the Serb who wanted to enter the country. without being vaccinated against COVID-19.
The 34-year-old Serb continued training Friday in Melbourne in hopes of securing a record-breaking 10th Australian Open title and 21st Grand Slam title.
Alas, at the end of the day, the Minister of Immigration published a press release announcing the cancellation, for the second time, of the Australian visa of the world N.1. A decision taken “on health and public order bases”, specified Alex Hawke, who said he was “firmly committed to protecting Australian borders, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“Nole” had already had his visa canceled when he arrived in Melbourne on January 5 and he was placed in a detention centre. But his lawyers won a resounding victory on January 10, getting a judge to reinstate his visa and order his immediate release.
Djokovic admitted to incorrectly filling out his declaration of entry into Australia, and to not respecting the rules of isolation after he tested positive for Covid-19 in December – a contamination which he hoped would allow him to benefit an exemption to enter Australia without being vaccinated.
On Thursday, the Australian Open had included Djokovic in the tournament draw and the draw had awarded him the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, 78th in the world, as his opponent in the first round.
But the world No.1 was still under threat of deportation in the name of the discretionary power of the Minister of Immigration, finally employed on Friday after a five-day suspense.
Dreams of a 10th title in Melbourne are receding, especially as the cancellation means Djokovic will be banned from entering the country for three years except in exceptional circumstances.
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.
“Its own rules”
As the government’s decision languished, pressure mounted around Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was accused of ‘incompetence’ by Labor opposition leader Kristina Keneally, noting that the Serb had obtained his visa 58 days earlier.
“The Morrison government is simply incompetent. This is a prank,” she tweeted.
Some tennis players pleaded for Djokovic to be able to participate in the Open, but others were 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 No.4 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 has come 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 in judgment” for having received, knowing that he was asymptomatic, the French daily “L’Équipe” 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.