Sydney (AFP)
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic was placed under administrative detention, after Australia canceled his entry visa to its territory for the second time, due to his failure to receive the anti-Covid-19 vaccine, pending a judicial decision in this case.
The Australian authorities said that the presence of Djokovic, who has not received a vaccination against Covid-19, on its soil, “could encourage anti-vaccination sentiment”, considering that he should be expelled from the country.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said in a statement that he had taken the decision to cancel the entry visa “for reasons of health and order,” noting that Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government was “strongly determined to protect Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The decision means that Djokovic is prevented from obtaining an entry visa to Australia for a period of 3 years, except in exceptional circumstances.
The Prime Minister later considered in a statement that the cancellation of Djokovic’s visa comes within the framework of protecting the “sacrifices” of the Australian people, and said, “Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic, and they rightly expected that these sacrifices would be protected.”
The famous Australian lawyer Christopher Livingstone considered that the Serbian star camp can apply to the Federal Court, saying, “Djokovic has a competent team around him, who can stay and fight or leave.
Hours after the decision, the judge, who had previously ruled not to extradite Djokovic from Australia, called for an emergency hearing.
“A hearing before Federal Court Judge Anthony Kelly will be held without any explanation,” a court spokesperson said in a statement.
During the hearing, the representative of the Australian government announced that his country had postponed the deportation of Djokovic until the consideration of this case was completed. In contrast, Djokovic’s lawyer confirmed that the government would detain his client Saturday after the immigration authorities heard him.
At the end of the hearing, Victoria state judge Anthony Kelly announced that he had abandoned the case, which would move to the Australian Federal Court, despite the objection of Djokovic’s lawyers, who feared the slowness of the proceedings.
Djokovic, ranked the first Yemeni in the world to win the Australian Championship for the tenth time in his career and set the record for the number of major titles in the Grand Slam tournaments (21), but his quest is threatened.
On January 5, Djokovic arrived in Australia, thanks to a special exemption, as he contracted Covid on the 16th of last month, but the authorities refused to allow him to enter, considering that the reasons for exempting the unvaccinated player do not meet the strict conditions imposed to enter its territory in the fight against Covid, to be His visa is refused and he is transferred to the Melbourne Passenger Detention Centre.
The Serbian star appealed the decision and succeeded in his quest after a federal judge ordered his immediate release. Indeed, this happened and he conducted his training on the main stadium of the Australian Championship normally in recent days, but his participation was suspended pending the decision of the Minister of Immigration that was taken today.
Djokovic admitted that he had made “mistakes” when filling out the entry form to Australia and in his behavior after he was diagnosed with the Corona virus last month, especially by not respecting the issue of social separation after learning of his infection, and he said on the Instagram application, “We live in a difficult truth in the context of the global pandemic, and sometimes Mistakes are made.”
Djokovic revealed that the form was filled out “by my team in my name, my business manager offers his sincere apologies for this administrative error, the error was human and not intentional.”
Djokovic appeared at an event in Belgrade the day after December 16, when he tested positive, according to information he provided to the Australian immigration authorities.
Djokovic explained that he had not obtained the result of the examination he underwent after he attended the next day (December 17) in Belgrade in order to honor young Serbian players without wearing a muzzle, according to photos published by the Serbian Tennis Federation on social media, and that he He underwent a photo session with the French newspaper L’Equipe two days later, on the 18th of the said month, according to the same newspaper.
Djokovic confirmed that before his meeting with the young Serbian players, he had undergone a new examination, the result of which was negative, and he said in defense of himself, “I did not feel any symptoms and was in good condition, I did not know the result of my positive examination before the end of that event.”
The organizers of the Australian Open, the first of the four grand slams, had put Djokovic’s name during the drawing of the draw on Thursday, when it pitted him against his compatriot Miomir Kismanovic, ranked 78 in the world, in the first round.
With the outbreak of the Omicron mutant among Australians, Djokovic’s refusal to receive the vaccine caused a major controversy.
The legal dispute with Djokovic has political backgrounds in a country that has lived for two years with one of the most difficult restrictions in the world to confront the outbreak of Covid-19 and is preparing for general elections in May.
“Australia has a policy of not allowing unvaccinated people to enter the country, it is not understood how we got to this point,” opposition Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese said in an interview Thursday. “How did Novak Djokovic come here?”
As the number of hospital admissions increased in Melbourne, the state of Victoria announced that it would reduce the capacity of stadiums by 50%.
Fans of the tournament, which begins Monday, must receive a vaccination or obtain a medical exemption.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic entered the line of events, criticizing the Australian Prime Minister and accusing his country of “mistreating” Djokovic.
“Why do you mistreat him, and why do you treat him in this way, not only against him, but also against his family and the whole country?” Vucic said on social media.
In this context, the American player Tennys Sandgren, who is also a non-vaccinator, denounced via Twitter the “insult” inflicted on Djokovic and the desire to “be an example”, and Serbian Janko Tipsarevic said that “everyone who participated in this procedure” should “be ashamed.” ».
“It becomes absurd that a healthy person is a threat to the public,” Igor Chitojevic, the doctor who helped Djokovic to the top of the world of yellow football, told AFP.
It is possible that Djokovic will lose his place as the world’s number one if he does not participate in the Australian Open, in exchange for the victory of the Russian Daniil Medvedev, ranked second in the world, or the German Alexander Zverev, who won the title.
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