End of the standoff between the Serbian tennis player, Novak Djokovic, and the Australian government. Wanting to play the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, without being vaccinated against Covid-19, the Australian federal court rejected the appeal of the world No. 1 against his deportation, confirming the cancellation of his visa
The federal court rejected Novak Djokovic’s appeal against his deportation from Australia, this Sunday, November 16, without any possibility of appeal. A decision to cancel the Serbian tennis player’s visa, confirmed unanimously by the three judges of the Federal Court, and taken last Friday by the Minister of Immigration, for reasons ” of public interest“.
Thus, the 34-year-old tennis player will not have the opportunity to win his 21st Grand Slam title, and will not compete in the Australian Open, which will start tomorrow, Monday January 17.
While claiming ” respect this decision., Djokovic expressed in a statement released this Sunday to be “ extremely disappointed with the court’s decision to dismiss his appeal of the Immigration Department’s decision to cancel his visa, stating his intention to ” cooperate with the relevant authorities regarding his departure from the country”.
It should be recalled that the Australian Minister for Immigration, Alex Hawke, had maintained, in his conclusions filed on Saturday before the court, that the presence of Djokovic in Australia, when he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus, “ was likely to pose a health risk to the Australian community“, especially since he lied on his entry documents into the territory, whose inhabitants have suffered for two years, the strictest anti-covid restrictions in the world.
The Australian government has therefore called this federal court decision “ Victoire“. Alex Hawke, claimed that “Australia’s strong border protection policy has kept us safe during the pandemic” , that ” Australians have made great sacrifices to get here” and “the Morisson government is firmly determined to protect this position“.
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