Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic sits in his car as he leaves a government detention center before attending a trial at his lawyer’s office in Melbourne, Australia, on January 16, 2022.
James Ross / AP
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Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic sits in his car as he leaves a government detention center before attending a trial at his lawyer’s office in Melbourne, Australia, on January 16, 2022.
James Ross / AP
MELBOURNE, Australia – Novak Djokovic left Australia on Sunday night after losing his last match to avoid deportation and playing at the Australian Open despite not being immunized against COVID-19. A court earlier unanimously rejected the tennis player’s challenge to cancel his visa.
Djokovic, 34, from Serbia, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling but respected it.
A masked Djokovic was photographed in a Melbourne airport lounge with two government officials in black uniforms. He left on an Emirates flight to Dubai, the same United Arab Emirates city he had flown to Australia from.
He has won a record nine Australian Open titles, including three in a row, but this time won’t even get a chance to try.
“I respect the Court’s decision and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities regarding my departure from the country,” he said in a statement.
Djokovic said he was “uncomfortable” because the focus had been on him since his visa was first canceled upon arrival at Mebourne airport on January 6.
“I hope that we can all now focus on the game and the tournament that I love,” he said.
The national federation that runs the tournament, Tennis Australia, said it respected the Federal Court’s decision. “We look forward to a competitive and exciting 2022 Australian Open and wish all the players the best of luck,” it said in a statement.
Deportation orders also often include a three-year ban on re-entering Australia.
In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic called the hearing “a farce with a lot of lies.”
“They think they humiliated Djokovic with this 10-day harassment, and actually they humiliated themselves. If you say that the unvaccinated person has no right to enter, Novak will not come or will. injected,” Vucic told reporters.
He said he told Djokovic after speaking with him “that we can’t wait to see him in Serbia, back to his country, to where he is always welcome.”
Supporters of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic listen to his verdict outside Djokovic’s law office in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, January 16, 2022.
Mark Baker / AP
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Supporters of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic listen to his verdict outside Djokovic’s law office in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, January 16, 2022.
Mark Baker / AP
He did not say whether Djokovic had said he would go to Serbia for the first time after being deported.
Chief Justice James Allsop said the ruling was based on whether the minister’s decision was “unreasonable or legally unreasonable.”
Hawke welcomed the decision. His office did not immediately provide details on how and when Djokovic left.
“Australia’s strong border protection policies have kept us safe during this pandemic, leading to one of the lowest mortality rates, strongest economic recovery and injection rates,” said Hawke. the highest strain in the world,” says Hawke.
He added: “Strong border protection policies are also fundamental to safeguarding Australia’s social cohesion, which has continued to be strengthened despite the pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed what he described as “the decision to keep our borders strong and to keep Australians safe.”
But the opposition spokeswoman for the domestic affairs category, Kristina Keneally, said Djokovic was being deported because of what he said and did publicly abroad before the government issued a visa for him. him in November.
“This mess is not a failure of our legislation. It is a failure of Morrison’s competence and leadership,” Keneally tweeted.
The response to the pandemic has turned political as Morrison’s conservative coalition seeks a fourth three-year term at an election in May.
Infection rates have skyrocketed across Australia since December when Morrison’s government eased what used to be some of the democratic world’s toughest restrictions on international travel.
“I will now take a moment to rest and recuperate, before making any further comment on this matter,” he said.
The court process that Djokovic hopes will keep his ambition to win his 21st Grand Slam title has been swift by Australian standards.
Within three hours of Hawke’s announcement Friday afternoon that Djokovic’s visa had been cancelled, his attorneys had gone before a judge in the Federal Circuit and Family Court to begin opposing the decision. their determination. The lawsuit was taken to Federal Court on Saturday and filed by both parties that same day.
The three judges heard the case more than five hours on Sunday and announced their verdict two hours later.
There is evidence that Djokovic will be deported based on Hawke’s assessment that he is seen as “the talisman of the anti-vaccination community.”
Hawke’s attorney Stephen Lloyd took aim at Djokovic’s anti-vaccination stance and “history of ignoring COVID safety measures”.
Lloyd cites the example of Djokovic giving an interview to a French newspaper journalist last month when he contracted COVID-19 and had to remove his mask during a photo session. Djokovic admitted the interview was an error in judgment.
The minister canceled the visa on the grounds that Djokovic’s presence in Australia could be a risk to the health and “good order” of the Australian public and “could be counterproductive to the injection effort”. strains of others in Australia.”
Djokovic’s visa was initially canceled on January 6 by a border official who decided he was not eligible for the Australian medical exemption for unvaccinated travelers. He was exempt from the tournament’s vaccine regulations because he had been infected with the virus within the previous six months.
Vasek Pospisil, the Canadian who won the 2014 Wimbledon men’s doubles championship and worked with Djokovic to form an association representing the players, tweeted: “There’s a political agenda going on here with (Australia) elections coming up that couldn’t be clearer. It’s not his fault. He didn’t force into the country and didn’t. ‘make his own rules’; he’s ready at home.”
Pospisil wrote that Djokovic would not have tried to go to Australia and “stay at home with his family” if he didn’t get a medical exemption.
Djokovic has won nine Australian Open titles, including three in a row and a total of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, placing him with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal the most in men’s tennis history.
Djokovic’s dominance towards the end of the year was particularly impressive, having won four of the last seven major tournaments and finished as runners-up in two others.
The only time he failed to make it to the final during that period was at the 2020 US Open, where he was disqualified in round 4 for hitting a ball that accidentally touched the referee’s throat after a match. .
Because Djokovic withdrew from the tournament after Monday’s schedule was announced, he was replaced by a so-called “lucky loser” – a player who lost the round. eliminated but entered the main round because another player had dropped out earlier. the contest has begun.
That player is Italian Salvatore Caruso, ranked 150th in the world.
