Pending certainties, let’s go back to the Djokovic affair, currently in Australia awaiting signals from the Aussie government regarding whether or not he can play the Open.
A decision by immigration minister Hawke was expected yesterday, but it has not arrived, and even today no signal. This shows that the matter is less straightforward than the first comments had assumed. The court’s decision to grant Djokovic a visa has certainly undermined the certainties of the government, convinced that the matter would be resolved with the player’s return to his homeland. However, this was not the case and the strength of Novak’s lawyers at this point represents an obstacle that should not be underestimated. The next step of the Australian government cannot be “false” yet. The problem, however, is that at this point the ball (it is appropriate to say this when speaking of tennis) is in the minister’s court. And it’s a poison ball, the kind you never know how to hit.
Let’s try to make a stretch of the imagination. If Minister Hawke were to decide to expel Djokovic, for the whole series of reasons told in the media in recent days, the platoon of Serbian lawyers are already ready for a series of exceptions and responses, capable of blocking ordinary justice for the next few. years. The Australian judicial system has already shown itself to be independent of political power, as is to be expected in a liberal country such as Australia. So there would be no certainty that the unfortunate minister would be able to win and take Novak out of the borders in a short time.
If, on the other hand, the minister decides not to proceed, granting Novak a visa and then authorizing him to play the Open (perhaps solving the matter with a small fine for some lack of bureaucratic nature), then the weakness and, above all, approximation of the Australian institutions, ready to bow to the powerful on duty.
Surely in this story the winners can already be identified: Novak’s lawyers. In fact, whatever the solution, they have shown that they can play the game with the same determination with which their client hits on the pitch. But the story also demonstrates an old adage of the modern era that wants to win who has the money to afford a pool of high-level lawyers.
In this story full of twists and turns and paradoxes, we like to highlight another one. When it became evident that the tennis player violated the isolation for the alleged positivity, the Serbian government that had defended him until the day before immediately distanced itself, stigmatizing his behavior. La Gazzetta dello Sport even reports that an investigation has been opened in his country, as well as in Spain. Will the lawyers be enough to save him?
