Novak Djokovic would have never thought he would have to play in an altogether different court in Melbourne – the court of law. January 10, Djokovic’s appeal against deportation would be heard and the court will decide whether he can defend his Australian Open Champion title that he has won nine times so far at Melbourne Park.
Djokovic’s predicament started with his own controversial statement on his vaccination status. He has said that since he was infected by the virus, he is immune to COVID-19. He arrived in Melbourne January 5, with the ‘medical exemption’ provided by Tennis Australia granting him approval to play in the Australian Open.
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However, after arrival on Australian soil, Djokovic’s journey was cut short due to a visa snafu that saw him face lengthy questioning from authorities at the border. Immigration officials, who are the final authority on granting admission into any country, found problems in Djokovic’s vaccination status and put him in detention.
It has emerged that Victorian state government and Federal government officials had explicitly told Tennis Australia that previous COVID-19 infection and recovery in the last six months was not valid grounds for a vaccine medical exemption. However, the governing body for tennis in Australia continued to communicate contradicting information to tennis players. It is surprising why Tennis Australia did not synchronize its invitation with government laws. One may smell a rat in this situation. COVID-19 restrictions are not local but global. Therefore, inviting yet not permitting entry to world class players like Djokovic could be an intentional move to ensure his ouster from the game. If Djokovic does not get a favourable judgement on his appeal to the local court then he stands a chance of being banned from entering Australia for the next three years. That would debar him from winning any future grand slam and would most definitely finish his stellar career.
Djokovic, prior to his arrival in Melbourne, had posted pictures on his Twitter account of getting aboard an aircraft. After his detention, the post drew negative attention, particularly from within Australia.
Tennis Australia most likely misguided Djokovic to think that with the vaccine exemption, all things would fall into place. With Roger Federer out of this year’s Australian Open with an injury and Rafael Nadal just making a comeback to the courts, Tennis Australia probably wanted a big name to attract crowds. That could be the reason why the organisation gave the vaccine exemption to Djokovic.
Government officials at the Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne have said they will not be providing Novak Djokovic with individual visa application support. They have left the decision up to the country’s federal government, which made the decision not to grant Djokovic entry.
One may wonder, would the Australian government dare to ever punish a player of Djokovic’s status if he was an American, Russian or British citizen. Since he is Serbian and his nationality does not empower him on the global stage, he becomes wholly dispensable. For instance, would an American government’s plea to help an American sportsman fallen on deaf Australian ears as the Serbian government’s pleas are being ignored. This may even be a kind of weird racism where, instead of skin colour, it is the nation’s standing that is being snubbed. Unfortunately, in today’s world, sportspersons and artistes are compelled to bear the burden of their nationality.
