Will play or not play? Australian justice leaned on Monday on the twists and turns of the visa of Novak Djokovic which has held the tennis planet in suspense since the world No. 1 was denied the right to defend his title at the Australian Open for sanitary reason.
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The lawyers of “Djoko”, held for five days in a center for migrants in Melbourne, must convince the federal court meeting online that he had contracted the Covid in December and that he was therefore exempt from compulsory vaccine to enter the territory.
The hearing opened forty minutes late after a computer problem caused too many connections to attend the live broadcast.
“I am now informed that the hearing has begun. The court is trying to rectify the situation. Our apologies, ”Federal Court spokesman Bruce Phillips said.
The judge continued the hearing without a live public broadcast and the athlete’s team of lawyers presented their arguments.
The Australian Open, where Djokovic aims to afford a 21st Grand Slam tournament that would place him at the top of tennis history, ahead of his two historic rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, begins in seven days and his participation depends entirely on the decision of Judge Anthony Kelly.
Djokovic was expected to attend the proceedings from the former Park Hotel, a five-story building that accommodates around 32 migrants trapped in Australia’s immigration system, some of them for years.
No one is allowed in or out, except the staff.
Hours before the hearing, a refugee banner was displayed on the roof and the police expelled a small number of protesters.
Present at a rally in Belgrade, Djokovic’s mother, Dijana, criticized her son’s “inhuman” conditions of detention.
“He is only entitled to one lunch and one dinner, and he has no normal window, he is looking at a wall,” she told regional television, TV N1.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said over the weekend that Serbia fully supported the champion and that she had had “constructive talks” with the Australian Foreign Minister.
“We made sure that he received gluten-free food, sports equipment, a laptop,” she told Serbian television Pink.
Not vaccinated
On Saturday, lawyers for World No.1 claimed in a document filed with federal court that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 16, 2021.
Djokovic, however, attended two public events in Belgrade, without a mask, the same day and the day after this test, according to various publications on social networks.
The Australian tennis federation granted him an exemption, on the grounds of this infection in December, to participate in the first Grand Slam of the season, after his request was approved by two independent medical panels, underlined his lawyers.
But on his arrival in Australia, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the federal authorities had refused him entry, considering that his grounds for exemption did not meet the conditions for entry into the territory.
The Australian government insists that a recent infection only counts as an exemption for residents, not foreign nationals trying to enter the country.
Djokovic “is not vaccinated”, again underline the lawyers of Australia in their conclusions made public Sunday. His request “must be refused”, they plead.
Foreigners are still banned from traveling to Australia, and those allowed to enter must be fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption.
Selected as “Djoko” after also having her visa canceled, Czech player Renata Voracova, a doubles specialist, left Australia on Saturday.
On Monday, Australian Federation boss Craig Tiley defended his organization against criticism accusing him of misleading players about entry requirements, saying the government had “refused” to verify the validity medical exemptions before the arrival of players.
“We asked if they could assess our decisions. We said we were going to need some help to make sure we are doing the right thing. We would be in a different situation today, ”he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
While much of Australia has tightened health restrictions to fight a new wave linked to the Omicron variant, the state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, recorded 44,155 new cases on Sunday.