Djokovic has to leave Australia again
His alleged special permit for the Australian Open was outraged worldwide. He has now been refused entry and is supposed to leave Melbourne immediately.
Actually everything looked wonderful to him, but for now he’s stuck at the airport: Novak Djokovic.
Photo: AFP
The Emirates scheduled flight with Novak was at 23:30 local time Djokovic landed at Tullamarine Airfield in Melbourne on Wednesday. He was still stuck there on Thursday morning, local time. And Australian sources reported that his visa had been canceled and that he would have to leave the country on Thursday. He was unable to provide sufficient evidence of his special permit to enter the country without a vaccination.
His son had been turned away by the border inspectors after consultation with the government and was being held in a guarded room, said his father Srdjan Djokovic on Wednesday the internet portal B92. “Novak is currently in a room that no one can enter,” he said. “There are two policemen outside the room,” he added.
Djokovic does not have the right one Visa to enter the country with a special permit without vaccination was reported by “The Age” from Melbourne early on, and the news portal cited several sources, some of which were close to the government. The 34-year-old Serb, an avowed and vehement opponent of vaccinations, said on Instagram on Wednesday that he was now going to Melbourne thanks to a special permit. A bit premature, as it turned out now.
Novak Djokovic does Tom Hanks: The Serb is stuck in the airport – like the American film star in the strip «The Terminal”.
His alleged vaccination exemption triggered vehement reactions far beyond the sports world and caused a shit storm on social media – especially in Australia. The organizers of the Grand Slam starting on January 17th and the government were not spared. The comments were as unanimous as seldom. Tenor: You should boycott the tournament, where Djokovic could have broken the record of 21 Grand Slam titles, or boycott him permanently.
“You must be Djoking”, played the British “Daily Mail” successfully with words – that was probably a joke. The television channel «ABC» spoke of «anger and confusion» across the entire Australian continent. “The West Australian” went even further, who wrote: “The Djoker has turned into the Joker and shamelessly assigned himself the role of villain before starting his attempt to rule the tennis world.” “The Herald Sun” judged the exemption as “sick hypocrisy”. The extra sausage for the most likely unvaccinated is insulting to every Australian who has gone “through hell” because of Covid.
It was foreseeable that Djokovic would face an icy wind in Australia. But nobody expected this development. It started while the nine-time Melbourne winner was in the air. According to “The Age”, the border protection agency learned of problems with the visa that had been submitted for the Serb. This should not allow entry with a special permit, it was said at first.
No help for Djokovic from the Victorian government
The border guards should have contacted the government of the State of Victoria for assistance for the tennis player. But there they showed no mercy for the guest, who had not been asked by many, and this request was refused. This representation was confirmed by the Minister of Sport Jaala Pulford on Twitter.
Australia’s Interior Minister Karen Andrews had meanwhile stated that entry into the country was not guaranteed even with a special permit for the tennis tournament. “No person who takes part in the Australian Open is given special treatment,” she said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison also made it clear at a media conference: “If he is not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable evidence that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons so that the same travel rules apply to him as those who are fully vaccinated.” To which he added that otherwise Djokovic would “sit on the next plane home”.
Australian Open boss Craig Meanwhile, Tiley had distanced himself from the most important figure in the tournament: it would be “helpful” if the Serb explained why he had come to this exception, according to Tiley. At first, that was not even possible because, according to various sources, Djokovic first sat across from the Australian authorities for hours without a mobile phone and without his team after his arrival.
On Wednesday it became known that a total of only 26 applications from Australian Open travelers had been received without being able to enter the country without a full vaccination . Only “a handful” of these were approved by two different groups of experts on an anonymous basis. The most common reason was that a vaccination was impossible in the past six months because of a Covid disease.
In addition to all displeasure, the case also inspired humor. Matt Walsh, reporter at “ESPN”, joked: “If you kick Djokovic out of the tournament, you probably never have to pay for a beer again in Australia.” And on Twitter there was a picture that shows Federer and Nadal as customs officials – they would be accommodating, should the Serb not win his 21st Grand Slam title, they are currently sharing the record with him.
Tobias Müller wrote his first article for the Basler Zeitung in 2011 and has worked as an editorial staff member since 2018. He mainly deals with topics from athletics, football and recreational sports.
René Stauffer has been a sports editor since 1981 specializing in tennis. Among other things, he reported on over 90 Grand Slam tournaments and is the author of two books on Roger Federer that have been translated into several languages.
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