Novak Djokovic to mount legal challenges against visa cancellation in Australia

Novak Djokovic, who is seeded number in the world, will be putting up legal challenges after his visa was cancelled for failing to meet the COVID-19 requirements of Australia. His chance to play for a 10th Australian Open title was thrown into limbo.

According to Australian media reports, Djokovic was forced to spend about eight hours at Melbourne Airport’s detention centre. He reportedly unsuccessfully pleaded his case to border officials. 

A day before arriving in Australia, Djokovic announced on social media that he had received “exemption permission”, a move to shield him from the strict vaccination regulations.

The president of Djokovic’s native Serbia blasted the “harassment” of the Tennis star, who was later moved to a hotel, pending arrangements for a flight out of Australia or legal action, according to reports from Associated Press.

In a statement to the press, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “The rule is very clear. You need to have a medical exemption”, Associated Press reported. He added, “He didn’t have a valid medical exemption. We make the call at the border, and that’s where it’s enforced.”

Following the presser, Morrison wrote on Twitter, “No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant.”

“One of the things the Border Force does is they act on intelligence to direct their attention to potential arrivals,” he said. “When you get people making public statements about what they say they have, and they’re going to do, they draw significant attention to themselves”, according to reports from Associated Press.

Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus in June 2020 after he played in a series of exhibition matches that he organised in Serbia and Croatia without social distancing amid the pandemic.

(With AP inputs)