Rafael Nadal says Novak Djokovic should play the Australian Open; Visa hearing pushed further

Following a judge’s judgement, Rafael Nadal believes “justice has spoken” and “it is the fairest thing” for Novak Djokovic to compete in the Australian Open.

“Regardless of whether or not I agree on some things with Djokovic, without any doubt, justice has spoken,” Nadal said on Monday to Spanish radio station Onda Cero.

Also read: Inside Djokovic’s detention centre in Australia

The Spaniard’s remarks came after Australian judge Anthony Kelly ordered Djokovic’s immediate release on Monday.

However, according to the Guardian Australia, Australia’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, will not decide whether or not to rescind Novak Djokovic’s visa tonight, Australian time.

A spokesman for Hawke said: “Following today’s Federal Circuit … determination on a procedural ground, it remains within immigration minister Hawke’s discretion to consider cancelling Mr Djokovic’s visa under his personal power of cancellation within section 133C(3) of the Migration Act. The minister is currently considering the matter and the process remains ongoing.”

Also read: Djokovic to be released as Australian court overturns visa cancellation

Other news agencies reported earlier this evening that Hawke might have to make a choice within four hours. The four-hour limit would only be important if the authorities opted to re-arrest Djokovic for questioning, which it hasn’t done.

Hawke’s power to revoke the visa has no time restriction; he can do so whenever he is satisfied that there is a reason to do so and that it is in the public interest.

The Serbian tennis star’s anti-vaccine stance has been a public knowledge for a while now, however, Djokovic’s lawyers take a hard position on vaccinations for admission into their offices, according to Kishor Napier-Raman, a political reporter for Crikey.

He had been imprisoned in an immigration detention facility in Melbourne for four nights after failing to establish a valid medical cause for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Djokovic was hauled into an overnight questioning with border authorities after arriving in Australia, where it was determined that the champion had failed to give a valid medical justification for not being vaccinated.

He told the official, “I am not vaccinated.”

Also read: What more could Djokovic have done? Australian judge in deportation hearing

Djokovic’s visa was cancelled, and he was detained at a notorious immigration detention centre, where he would be deported.

He stayed in the former Park Hotel for four nights, a five-story building that houses about 32 migrants caught up in Australia’s harsh immigration system, some of whom have been there for years.