World-ranked anti-vaccine Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic is still under surveillance in the country he came to for the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. The Australian government has also launched a review of visas for other foreign tennis players.
The Australian government announced that Djokovic’s visa was canceled because he did not meet the entry requirements.
Interior Minister Karen Andrews said that they had access to information that there were other tennis players in a similar situation and that an investigation was started.
Minister Andrews, in a statement to Australian channel Channel 9, did not provide information about how many tennis players were being investigated.
Andrews said Djokovic, who was taken to a hotel used as a detention center in Melbourne, is not in custody and can go out whenever he wants and customs police can help.
Despite being unvaccinated, Novak Djokovic was given a visa exemption, and it was announced that Djokovic, whose visa was canceled, would be deported.
Whether Djokovic will be deported is expected to be determined at the hearing on Monday.
The Australian Open Tennis Tournament will begin on January 17.
‘Djokovic is not in custody’
The organizers of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament announced that Djokovic was granted visa exemption by two medical committees appointed by the Australian Tennis Federation and the Victorian state government.
However, Australian police announced that the 34-year-old tennis player could not present the necessary evidence on his arrival at Melbourne Airport. To enter the country, foreigners must have had at least two vaccines of Covid-19.
‘Djokovic mocked Australia’
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told the BBC: “If he doesn’t fill out the forms properly, it means he’s making fun of a country’s sovereignty.”
“If someone is 100 percent wrong and didn’t tell the truth, it’s Djokovic who made that mistake,” Joyce said.
The federal government has been accused of ignoring the Australian Border Force’s recommendations for the Australian Tennis Federation’s entry requirements. The Victorian State Government also blamed the federation today.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also accused of “politicizing the issue”. Morrison is under pressure from the escalation in Covid cases and federal elections are expected in May.
Morrison stated that the cancellation of Djokovic’s visa had nothing to do with his being a citizen of Serbia.
Serbia: take Djokovic to a better hotel
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Djokovic was a ‘victim of ill-treatment’ and that ‘all Serbia is behind the famous tennis player’.
The hotel where Djokovic stayed is used as a detention centre.
Immigrants detained at the center say conditions at the hotel are bad.
The Serbian government had requested that Djokovic be taken to a better hotel.