Australian authorities revoked Djokovic’s visa for failing to comply with measures against COVID-19 upon his arrival in the oceanic country.
The case of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic took a new twist this Saturday after his lawyers revealed that the world’s number one received a medical exemption to enter Australia unvaccinated after being infected with COVID-19 last December.
“The date of the first positive PCR test for covid was recorded on December 16, 2021,” says a court document presented by the Serbian tennis player’s lawyers before the Australian court that will decide on your deportation.
In the midst of a great international uproar, the Australian authorities revoked Djokovic’s visa for failing to comply with the measures against COVID-19 upon his arrival in the oceanic country on Wednesday night, despite having a medical exemption that allowed him without being vaccinated to defend his title in the Australian Open, which will be held between January 17 and 30.
The 34-year-old Serbian tennis player has since been held in a Melbourne hotel waiting for the Australian justice to review his case and decide if he has to be deported after his lawyers appealed the decision of the Australian authorities.
The Melbourne Federal Circuit Court will hold a hearing this Monday, which will be broadcast live, to decide whether Djokovic is deported from the country.
Medical exemption
Djokovic’s exemption was allegedly granted by two independent medical panels organized by the Australian federation, Tennis Australia, and the state of Victoria, which hosts the tournament.
“Mr Djokovic had received, on December 30, 2021, a letter from the Tennis Australia Medical Director stating that he had been provided with a ‘medical exemption from covid vaccination‘because he had recently recovered from covid, ”says the court document quoted by local media.
The lawyers point out that “at that time 14 days had passed since the positive PCR test” and that the tennis player “had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of COVID-19″ In the previous 72 hours.
The arrival in Australia of the Serbian tennis player, who has never wanted to reveal if he was vaccinated, caused a wave of indignation in the oceanic country that requires travelers to have the complete schedule of the vaccine against covid-19 or a valid medical exemption to enter to the country.
Australian Border Force (ABF) officials said the player “did not provide adequate evidenceAt Melbourne airport because a previous infection was not a valid reason to enter without a vaccine.
Without exceptions
For his part, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison assured that the case should be reviewed according to federal regulations, despite the support of the government of the state of Victoria, and that no exceptions were to be made.
“There are no special cases. The rules are the rules ”, he assured after the revocation of the world’s number one visa.
The dispute over the medical exemptions granted by the Australian tennis federation and the regional government of Victoria have led the Executive of Canberra to investigate similar permissions granted to other players participating in the tournament in Melbourne.
In this regard, the authorities detained the Czech tennis player Renata Vorácová, after canceling her visa, which she had obtained despite not being fully vaccinated thanks also to a medical exemption.
Vorácová, who had been in Australia since December and had already played a preparation match prior to the Australian Open, is being held in the same hotel as Djokovic, waiting to leave the country, the Czech embassy reported in Canberra.
Diplomatic crisis
The Djokovic case has also generated a diplomatic crisis between Serbia and Australia, whom the Government of Belgrade accuses of treating the Serbian tennis player “shameful”.
The Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ivica Dacic, said on Saturday that Serbia’s relations with Australia will suffer due to the way in which the authorities of that country are treating Djokovic and accused Canberra of trying to “prevent” the world’s number one “Become the best tennis player in history.”
“That deal is shameful and must be made clear to Australia“Dacic told the Serbian public television station RTS.
Serbia has asked, so far to no avail, the Australian authorities to allow Djokovic wait for the decision in a private house that you had rented to be during the tournament. (D)
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