(Melbourne) Australia dramatically relaunched the Djokovic saga on Friday by once again canceling the visa of the world tennis number one, who will not, however, be deported before justice has ruled on his appeal, but who could return in detention from Saturday.
Posted at 6:19 a.m.
Updated at 7:04 a.m.
The 34-year-old tennis player, who entered Australia without being vaccinated against COVID-19, continued training on Friday in the hope of conquering a 10and title at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, and a 21and Grand Slam victory, which would be a record.
Alas, at the end of the day, the Minister of Immigration Alex Hawke announced the cancellation, for the second time, of the Australian visa of the Serb. A decision taken “on health and public order bases”, specified the minister.
“Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic, and rightly want the outcome of those sacrifices to be protected,” said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The battle continued Friday evening in court. In an interim hearing before a judge in Melbourne, who Djokovic’s lawyers asked to block the deportation, the government representative announced that the player would not be deported until the court had ruled on his case.
Djokovic’s lawyers have asked that he remain free during the proceedings. The government representative assured that he will not return to detention before an interrogation scheduled for Saturday morning before the immigration services, but that the authorities then intend to place him again in detention.
“Djokovic is extremely well armed and has a competent team around him. He can either stay and fight or go,” said immigration lawyer Christopher Levingston.
“Nole” had had his visa canceled once upon his arrival in Melbourne on January 5 and he had already been placed in a detention centre.
His lawyers had then obtained from a judge that he restore his visa and order his immediate release on January 10. But the immigration minister finally canceled his visa again on Friday under his discretion.
” Human error ”
Djokovic has admitted incorrectly filling out his entry declaration to Australia, and failing to follow isolation rules after he tested positive for COVID-19 in December – a contamination he hoped would benefit him an exemption to enter Australia without being vaccinated.
Djokovic also pleaded “human error” to explain how a wrong box on his Australian entry form was checked.
Dreams of a 10and title in Melbourne are moving away, especially since this visa cancellation implies that Djokovic will be banned from entering the country for three years, except in certain exceptional circumstances.
In particular, the three-year visa ban can be lifted if Australia’s interests justify it, according to lawyer Christopher Levingston.
This saga around the tennis champion carries a very strong political charge in Australia, where the inhabitants have endured for almost two years some of the strictest anti-COVID-19 restrictions in the world, and where elections are expected by May. .
“Its own rules”
While the government’s decision was pending, pressure intensified around Prime Minister Scott Morrison, accused of “incompetence” by the leader of the Labor opposition Kristina Keneally.
Some tennis players pleaded for Djokovic to be able to compete at the Internationals, 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”, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number 4, said on Thursday in an interview with the Indian media WION.
Others prefer restraint, like Scotsman Andy Murray: “I’m not going to start hitting Novak while he’s down,” he commented on Friday.
The soap opera is also followed assiduously in Serbia, where politicians erect the star as a national hero.
In the streets of Belgrade, Stanislav Urosevic, a 69-year-old retiree, grumbled after the decision of the Australian government: “I have the impression that we want to prevent him at all costs from winning another title, as it is party they will ban tennis if necessary”.
“I had a feeling somewhere that the politicians wouldn’t let go, that they would end up making this decision. All of this is disgusting,” reacted Jasmina Ostojic, 47, a supermarket cashier.
The player’s brother, Djordje Djokovic, told AFP that the family would not speak until the end of the ongoing legal proceedings in Australia.