Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has lost in an Australian court the appeal against the decision of the Government to revoke his visa for the second time, ending the tennis superstar’s hopes of winning the Australian Open and amassing a record 21 men’s Grand Slam titles.
The decision was taken unanimously by the three judges of the Federal Court, that has addressed in a virtual hearing the appeal presented by the defense of Djokovic, who was detained on Saturday in a hotel to detain immigrants after the controversy over his vaccination status.
Djokovic ‘disappointed’
Djokovic has claimed to be “deeply disappointed” by the cancellation of his visa in Australia after losing his appeal in court to that government decision.
“Unfortunately for the last few weeks the focus (of interest) has been me and I hope that (now) we can focus on the sport and the tournament that I love,” Djokovic said, wishing the participants luck and thanking his family for their support. and followers.
On January 5, Djokovic arrived in Australia with a medical exemption for not being vaccinated against COVID, an essential requirement to enter the country. However, upon his arrival in Australia, the immigration authorities detained the 34-year-old tennis player, canceled his visa and sent him to a hotel where he remained isolated until Monday, considering the evidence provided to achieve a medical exemption from vaccination insufficient.
The controversy was fueled when the Australian authorities detected possible inconsistencies in the Serb’s visa. According to the document, Djokovic checked the “no” box in the question of whether he had made any trips during the 14 previous days upon arrival in the country, which took place almost at midnight last Wednesday on a flight that departed from Spain and made a stopover in Dubai. “My agent sincerely apologizes for the clerical error in choosing the wrong box. It was a human error and certainly not deliberate,” Djokovic apologized.
The tennis player, who also provided documents that would prove that was infected with coronavirus on December 16, spent Christmas in Belgrade according to the photographs published on social networks, before moving to Spain, from where he boarded a plane on January 4 with transit in Dubai and final destination in the Australian city.
