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Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2022 1:02:41 GMT
In normal times, Novak Djokovic would be warmly welcomed to the Australian Open, as the world No. 1 and the tournament's defending champion. But now, the reigning Australian Open men's champion — who is famously skeptical about the COVID vaccine and received a medical exemption from being vaccinated — is being barred entry to the country. "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 Australian Border Force said in a statement. The agency said Djokovic "failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled." Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted: "Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules." Djokovic spent the night at the Melbourne Airport as Australian government officials refused to let him enter the country for the Australian Open after an apparent visa mix-up, according to The Associated Press. Djokovic avoided the country's strict vaccine requirements by getting an exemption, prompting many Australians, including the prime minister, to say the tennis star shouldn't get special treatment. "Any individual seeking to enter Australia must comply with our border requirements," Morrison said on Wednesday after reporters asked him about the case. "If he's not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons," Morrison said of the Serbian, adding that the federal government is waiting to see what evidence Djokovic will provide to support his request. "If that evidence is insufficient, then he won't be treated any different to anyone else and he'll be on the next plane home," Morrison said, hiking his thumb in the air for emphasis. "There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all. None whatsoever."
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Post by Admin on Jan 7, 2022 21:27:00 GMT
Inside the hotel where Novak Djokovic is detained - BBC News 7,351 views • Jan 8, 2022 • As tennis player Novak Djokovic fights deportation from Australia, he has been sent to an immigration hotel where refugees and asylum seekers have long complained of poor conditions.
Adnan Choopani has been there for five months and recorded a video of his room.
The visa of Czech tennis player Renata Voracova has also been cancelled. She is being held in the same hotel.
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Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2022 0:08:06 GMT
Novak Djokovic’s mother claims her son is being treated ‘like a prisoner’ inside his detention hotel in Melbourne and has complained that the facility is ‘dirty’ and has ‘bugs’. The 34-year-old is currently being held at the Park Hotel in Carlton, Melbourne, after his visa was rejected on Wednesday. The Australian Border Force claims Djokovic ‘failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements’, and the Serb now faces the prospect of being deported. Djokovic’s court hearing has been adjourned until 10am Monday local time, but he has been ordered to remain at the hotel until a final decision is made. ‘I spoke with him a couple of hours ago, he was good, we didn’t speak a lot but we spoke for a few minutes. He was trying to sleep, but he couldn’t,’ Dijana Djokovic said at a press conference in Belgrade on Thursday. ‘As a mother, what can I say, you can just imagine how I feel, I feel terrible since yesterday, the last 24 hours. ‘They are keeping him like a prisoner, it’s just not fair, it’s not human. I hope he will stay strong as we are also trying, to give him some energy to keep going. I hope he will win.’ ‘His accommodation [is] terrible. It’s just some small, immigration hotel, if it is a hotel at all. With bugs, it’s all dirty, the food is terrible.
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Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2022 20:52:28 GMT
A bid by the Australian government to delay Novak Djokovic's appeal against deportation has been rejected by a judge overseeing his case. The government had requested the tennis star's court hearing be postponed until Wednesday, but it will instead begin as scheduled on Monday morning. Djokovic was denied entry to Australia after landing in Melbourne last week to defend his Australian Open title. His case has caused a huge outcry and made headlines around the world. The world number one men's tennis player - who has said he is opposed to vaccination - is in an immigration detention centre as his lawyers prepare to appeal against a decision by Australia's federal government to cancel his visa. Djokovic, 34, had been granted a medical exemption to play in the Australian Open tournament in a decision that infuriated many ordinary Australians who have been living under some of the world's strictest Covid rules. On Saturday, Djokovic's lawyers submitted a 35-page document arguing that their client fulfilled the criteria for a vaccine exemption certificate because of a recent Covid infection, which was confirmed by a PCR test on 16 December. There had been no prior announcement of Djokovic's Covid infection, and photos have since emerged of the player apparently attending events in the Serbian capital Belgrade maskless at around the time he tested positive. It is unclear whether he knew he had Covid when the photos were taken.
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Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2022 23:22:19 GMT
There has always been a feeling that Djokovic wants the same adoration that fellow champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have received from the crowds throughout their career. He is a more volatile figure than both Federer and Nadal, as he showed at the 2020 US Open when he was defaulted for hitting a lineswoman in the throat with a ball. His over the top celebrations – where he gestures to all four corners of the court – also grates on some. Djokovic has in the past been accused by other players of exaggerating injuries and he was heavily criticised, notably by Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, for organising a tournament in June 2020 in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic. A number of players subsequently tested positive for the virus and Djokovic later apologised. This is the court where Djokovic’s team will have his case heard, beginning in about 15 minutes. But they - and the world number one - won’t be in attendance, due to Covid restrictions. Only the judge is expected to be in the room while others will appear by video link. The judge has said if Novak Djokovic speaks it could speed up the progress of his case. There's been much controversy over Djokovic's bid to play in the Australian Open ever since he announced on 4 January that he had received a medical exemption to participate. Australia requires all foreign visitors to be double vaccinated, or to complete 14 days in quarantine. Many ordinary Aussies were up in arms that a tennis superstar was apparently being allowed straight into the country. The political fallout led to PM Scott Morrison warning Djokovic that he would be sent home if he failed to provide proper medical proof for his exemption - despite initially saying he’d allow the state of Victoria to decide. Djokovic landed at Melbourne Airport near midnight on Wednesday and was promptly assessed and rejected for entry. After spending eight hours at the airport his visa was cancelled and he was taken into temporary immigration detention. His lawyers say he met the criteria for a vaccine exemption certificate because of a Covid infection on 16 December - and that he had the backing of state and sporting bodies. But Australia's federal government dismissed the prior infection as a valid reason for an exemption.
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