World No.1, Novak Djokovic flew to Australia with a ‘vaccine exemption’ and arrived in Melbourne on 5th January, 2022.
He was denied entry into the country after nine hours of waiting at the airport.
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The Serb’s visa was cancelled due to it not being the one that allows for medical exemptions. After which he was moved to the Park Hotel in Carlton to quarantine as his legal team launched an appeal.
On 10th January 2022, Judge Anthony Kelly from the Federal Circuit Court of Australia quashed the visa cancellation.
He ordered the Australian Government to pay legal costs and release Djokovic from detention within half an hour.
Djokovic’s Entry In Australia To Be Prohibited
Novak Djokovic has won his court case in Australia on Monday. He has made his appeal against being denied a visa to enter the island of Australia.
The immigration minister, Alex Hawke could use his “personal governmental powers” to stop Djokovic. It could result in him being deported and banned from the country for three years.
After his win in the court, the Australia Border Force (ABF) has launched an investigation on Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic’s Court Win In Jeopardy
An investigation was triggered after the transcript of Nole’s Border Force interview was released. In the transcript, it was revealed that Djokovic had contracted Covid on June 2020 and on 16th December, 2021.
Novak had provided them with the Tennis Australia exemption, his travel declaration and medical evidence including a positive test.
In the transcript, when asked why he was travelling to Australia, Djokovic said: “I’m a professional tennis player and the main reason for me coming to Australia is participating in the Australian Open in Melbourne, Victoria.“
In response to a question about his vaccination status, he said: “I am not vaccinated.“
When asked if he had ever had Covid-19, Djokovic replied: “I had Covid twice, I had Covid in June 2020 and I had Covid recently in – I was tested positive -PCR – December 16, 2021.“
An Australian Border Force (ABF) statement read: “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. The ABF can confirm Mr Djokovic had access to his phone.”
Novak Djokovic Seen In Public After Positive Test Results
On January 2022, a filing submitted by Djokovic’s lawyers ahead of the appeal hearing revealed that his medical exemption is based upon a positive test from December, 2021.
It was stated the Serb recorded a positive test on December 16 and has “not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 72 hours”.
However, Djokovic then began facing fresh questions as to why he was pictured in public on the day he claimed he tested positive for Covid-19.
The world No.1 attended an event on December 16 at the Belgrade headquarters of the Serbian national post office.
The event was honouring him and his career with the release of a series of stamps.
Djokovic posted pictures from the event in which he is seen mask-less on his Twitter account on December 17, 2021.
Australian authorities are investigating whether Novak Djokovic lied on his entry form before arriving in the country, source says https://t.co/O9NaofTuM8
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 11, 2022
It is unclear if Djokovic knew he had Covid when he attended the event.
He was playing tennis on the streets of his hometown on Christmas Day and again he was mask-less. Here it is clear that he knew about his positive test result.
Novak was also seen with some children, without wearing a mask after his positive test result.
Due to the inaccuracies in his statements on the declaration form and in the interview the Border Force has launched the investigation.