There is no way to deny that Djokovic sure does start a conversation, and bring lots of attention to Tennis. The world number 1, on equal Grand Slams as Nadal and Federer with 20 has hit quite a big wall when he arrived to Melbourne, Australia just before 11pm on Wednesday the 5th of January.
Novak just announced this week that he was heading down under after receiving an ‘exemption permission’. There was a lot of outrage from many Australian’s of all walks of life at the news as they have had to stay under strict lockdown conditions for the last 2 years, sacrificing so much, with many devastating stories of not being able to see dying family members etc.
In the time since Novak announced he was coming to Australia there was a lot of confusion about what grounds he got the exemption to travel to Australia an it was widely known he is anti vax. The Victoria Government, Tennis Australia, and the Federal Government were all pointing the finger at each other with no clarify given on the grounds for the exemption.
A fan awaiting Djokovic’s arrival at Melbourne airport.
Djokovic was held by Australia Customs officials and questioned from when he arrived on the 5th of January, right up until 8.15am on the 6th of January when the news was that he was denied entry into Australia when his visa was officially denied due to not providing sufficient evidence. The statement from the Australian Border Force is below
“The ABF can confirm that Mr Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled. Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia“
There are now many unanswered questions which the public would love to know. Many people are wondering how he was able to get all the way from Europe to Australia and not know that he would have had issues on arrival. Shouldn’t Djokovic have ensured that all of his documentation and evidence was correct before boarding the plane? OR was the issue that the ‘visa/exemption’ he was granted alluded to him having all he needed to come here with no issues since his exemption was granted?
There are reports that Tennis Australia had 2 x independent Panels which awarded Djokovic the exemption to play… but Australian Prime Minister said they do not make the rules, the border patrol does.. and “rules are rules” and no one is above them.
As I write this article Djokovic’s lawyers are currently fighting in court to appeal the decision. There are reports that the court battle may go on until Tuesday next week when a final decision will be made. Djokovic is currently being held in an asylum seeker hotel in Carlton ( a suburb of Melbourne).
Such weight this issue has drawn that even the President of Serbia contacted Australia and tried to influence the decision of Australia border patrol. Even Djokovic’s dad has expressed his anger and was at one stage calling on Australian’s and supporters of Djokovic to fight for Djokovic in the streets of Melbourne. Some people worry about Australia looking bad for treating such an esteemed sportsperson the way they have. Other people think that the stance Australia has made is the right thing to do on principal and that everyone should be held account to the same rules, no matter status, success or anything else.
This story will continue to develop and hopefully in the next 24 hours we will have more clarify about exactly what happened with Djokovic.. ie what exemption did he apply under, did he have the right supporting documentation, was Novak being sneaky, or was the difficult process to get to Australia amid constantly changing rules to enter and leave Australia the problem………time will tell and one thing is assured… it won’t go away in a hurry!