Djokovic’s Australian visa was canceled after he failed to meet the entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Novak Djokovic’s lawyers filed court papers Saturday in his challenge against deportation from Australia that show the tennis star tested positive for last month and recovered — grounds he used in applying for a medical exemption to the country’s strict vaccination rules. The No.1-ranked Djokovic was denied entry at the Melbourne airport late Wednesday after border officials his visa for failing to meet its entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Djokovic was given a backed by the Victoria state government and Australian Open organizers on January 1, based on information he supplied to two independent medical panels, and he was approved for a visa electronically. But it has since emerged that the Victoria state medical exemption, allowed for people who tested positive for the coronavirus within the last six months, was deemed invalid by the federal border authorities. Djokovic has been confined to an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne, where he’s been preparing for the against his visa cancellation in the Federal Circuit Court on Monday. The Australian Open starts January 17. Djokovic is the defending champion and has won the Australian Open men’s singles title nine times. He has 20 Grand Slam singles title, a men’s record he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. and the Australian Associated Press reported details of the documents late Saturday. It showed Djokovic received a letter from Tennis Australia’s chief medical officer on December 30 last year “recording that he had been provided with a ‘medical exemption from COVID vaccination’ on the grounds that he had recently recovered from COVID.” The exemption certification said the date of the 34-year-old Serb’s first positive test was December 16,2021, “and that he had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms in the past 72 hours.” Djokovic attended a December 17 event in Belgrade honoring young tennis players. The event was covered by local media, and parents posted photos on social media showing Djokovic and the children not wearing masks. It’s not clear if Djokovic knew the results of his test at the time.
