End of the game for Novak Djokovic. The world number 1 in tennis is now deportable from Australia after having seen his appeal against the cancellation of his visa rejected, this Sunday morning. The three judges of the Federal Court issued their decision shortly before 8 am (6 pm local time) in Melbourne: they unanimously decided that the authorities were justified in canceling the Serbian’s visa. He will also have to pay court costs.
The ultimate legal battle between Novak Djokovic and the Australian government, which maintains that the unvaccinated Serb against Covid-19 constitutes a “health risk” and intends to expel him from the country, has therefore turned to the advantage of the locals. Allowed to leave the detention center where he was placed on Saturday, Djokovic followed the hearing online from the offices of his lawyers.
A lost “final” which, in the short term, should lead to the expulsion of the Serb and deprive him of participation in the Australian Open, in the table of which he was nevertheless registered. In theory, Djokovic was supposed to play tomorrow night. It is likely that he will have already left the country by then.
The move marks the latest installment in a saga that began on January 5, when the player was stranded upon arriving in Melbourne. Novak Djokovic, a notorious vaccine-skeptic, had been turned back on his arrival in Australia and placed for the first time in administrative detention. The player, who contracted Covid-19 in December, had hoped for an exemption to enter the country without being vaccinated, but the authorities did not accept this explanation.
The Australian government suffered a humiliating setback on January 10 when a judge blocked Djokovic’s deportation, reinstated his visa and ordered his immediate release. The Serb was then able to resume his training for the Australian Open. Eventually, the Minister of Immigration canceled his visa again on Friday under his discretion and “on health and public order grounds”, a measure that is difficult to challenge in court.
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