Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke is investigating whether to revoke Novak Djokovic’s visa. Hawke has the authority to do that from his position. His ministry told Australian media on Tuesday that Hawke is “thinking carefully about the matter”. On Tuesday it was still believed that Hawke would not make a decision until this week, but that may have changed now. “Of course this affects the timing of a decision,” said a ministry spokesman.
Djokovic may have given ‘misleading information’ when filling out the entry forms. The top tennis player would have checked that he had not traveled in the fourteen days before leaving for Melbourne. However, the Serb was spotted in Spain and Belgrade at the end of last month. On Wednesday, Djokovic stated that the wrong check was a mistake by his agent and apologized for the mistake. There is a penalty in Australia for giving false or misleading information.
Djokovic also spoke out about an interview he gave to the French magazine L’Equipe in mid-December, a day after he was said to have received a positive result from a corona test. On the basis of that positive test, he applied for his medical exemption from the Australian Open. He called his cooperation in that interview an ‘error of judgement’.
The main tournament of the Australian Open starts on Monday.
#Djokovic #extra #documentation #longer #stay #Australia