The tennis player’s lawyers affirm that he can be exempted from the COVID-19 vaccine and requested his transfer to a center where he can train.
Novak Djokovic does not resign. Although he was prohibited from entering Australia and was blocked in an immigration center, the tennis player’s lawyers affirm that he can be exempted from the COVID-19 vaccine, since he overcame the disease and requested his transfer to an establishment where he can train .
His representatives affirmed in a document presented in court on Saturday that the athlete obtained an exemption not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for having tested positive in December.
“The date of the first positive COVID PCR test was December 16, 2021,” declared their representatives in this document presented to the federal court to try to annul the rejection of their entry visa to Australia.
However, the world number one tennis player attended without a mask the following day in Belgrade to a ceremony with young players, according to a publication of the local tennis federation.
Djokovic had landed in Melbourne on Wednesday night, after a 25-hour journey with a connection in Dubai.
The entry of foreigners to Australia is prohibited with few exceptions and travelers who obtain a visa must have a full COVID vaccination scheme or a medical exemption.
The tennis star has been detained since Thursday morning, despite his request to be transferred to another center that allows him to train before the Australian Open.
Although the tennis player obtained an extension to avoid his deportation, it is not clear if the process will allow him to participate in the tournament, which takes place between January 17 and 30 and that Djokovic has won nine times.
Held like “Djoko”, Czech tennis player Renata Voracova left Australia this Saturday after the cancellation of her visa also for health reasons.
In a video that was leaked on Saturday, Tennis Australia director Craig Tiley says his organization did “everything it could.”
“There are many accusing fingers and many people blaming, but I can assure you that our team has done an incredible job,” he said in a video posted on the website of Sunday Herald Sun.
The Australian tennis official explains that the organization chose not to address the issue publicly due to Djokovic’s legal appeal against his expulsion.
The tennis federation, organizer of the Australian Open, has been accused of misleading players about the current requirements for anticovid vaccination to enter the country.
In a communication to tennis players published by several Australian media, the association claimed that unvaccinated people could get an exemption if they demonstrated a recent covid-19 infection.
But the Australian government specified that this provision is only applicable to residents of Australia, but not to foreign citizens who want to enter the country. In addition, they indicate that they communicated this to Tennis Australia in November.
The case casts doubts on the rest of the season, especially in the United States, which also requires vaccination to enter its territory. (D)
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