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World Number One men's tennis player, nine-time Australian Open champion and Serbian Novak Djokovic arrived in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia, at 23:30 local time on January 5 to prepare for the upcoming Australian Open.
When Djokovic was preparing to enter the country, the Australian side cancelled his visa and announced his expulsion, requiring him and his team to leave Australia on Thursday night.
Djokovic's father confirmed to serbian media that Djokovic was treated like a "criminal", not only interrogated, but also imprisoned in a "small black room".
Currently, Djokovic and his team are staying in hotels under the jurisdiction of the Australian Immigration Service (provided for the unidentified), and their luggage is still left at the airport. Djokovic has filed an "interim injunction on repatriation" with the Australian court and has the support of the judge. The final ruling on the repatriation of Djokovic and his team will be made next Monday (January 10) Australian time, before Djokovic's lawyers will need to provide evidence by 2 p.m. on Saturday and the Australian government by 8 p.m. on Sunday. The Serbian government is also trying to help Djokovic and his party move out of the hotel.
Australia has been a country with strict entry restrictions since the outbreak of COVID-19, with borders only opened last November (including allowing its citizens and permanent residence permit holders to leave the country). From 1 December, temporary visa holders who are fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine do not need to apply for exemption from entry, and Djokovic is the same as applying for exemption from entry without vaccination.
Djokovic has been "not positive" about vaccination. At the end of March last year, Grand Slam winner Maurismo said "no vaccines, no tennis", and then Djokovic said in a live webcast: "As far as I am personally opposed to vaccines, I do not want to be forced to be vaccinated for reasons that I can travel." Once this becomes mandatory, all I can say is that I need to make a decision when the time comes, and I have my own ideas about vaccines, and I'm not sure when I'll change that.
Therefore, until today, Djokovic has not been vaccinated against the new crown, but he hopes to use the "exemption" from the Australian side to enter Australia and participate in the Australian Open. But this "privileged" behavior, which Australian netizens consider to be fermenting on the Internet, at this time, Australian Prime Minister Morrison, who has always attached great importance to the voice of social networks, stepped forward, first warning Djokovic that "he may take the next flight home", and then saying that "rules are rules, no one can be above the rules" . In fact, Morrison's position and attitude are not a problem, but as the head of the Australian federal government, it is really suspected of "rubbing heat" to stand up for Djokovic's entry issue...
If Djokovic was not vaccinated and was not "welcomed" by the Australian government, why did he come? Because, Djokovic was granted the "exemption from entry" qualification. Tennis Australia also confirmed in a statement that Djokovic applied for a medical exemption, which was approved after a rigorous review process by two independent panels of medical experts.
However, when Djokovic flew to Melbourne, everything changed! Australian Home Secretary Andrews issued a statement saying: "Any individual seeking entry into Australia must comply with our strict border rules. While the Victorian government and Tennis Australia may allow unvaccinated athletes to compete in the Australian Open, the federal government will enforce our rules at the Australian border.
Because the reasons for the exemption applicant's application are strictly confidential as personal privacy, so the reason for Djokovic's application for exemption is not clear, according to the data given by the Australian Open, a total of 26 players have applied for exemption, and the Australian media news is that Djokovic is one of the three approved players, but as of now, there are no reports that the other two unknown players have been banned from entering. Therefore, many Djokovic fans believe that the Australian government has adopted double standards in this matter, because Djokovic's popularity is too high, and Australian Prime Minister Morrison also made it clear in an interview: high visibility, the more questions are asked when entering the country.
At this point in the story, an obvious question is, what kind of effort would Djokovic have tossed if he had not been allowed to enter Australia, not to mention that he had previously announced to the media that he had obtained a permit to exempt himself from entry? At this time, the Australian Open organizing committee, which is now not a person inside and out, should be remembered, because they told Djokovic that we had "done everything"!
On the issue of the entry of foreigners (including domestic residents), the Australian government's attitude has always been relatively clear, from the perspective of the Australian Open, the inability of tennis stars who are unwilling to be vaccinated is "affecting business", so they chose to deal with the Victorian government where they are located, and promoted the Australian Immunization Technology Advisory Group (ATAGI) to give an exemption from entry permits. But after the incident, ATAGI chose to side with the higher-level Australian federal government, which released the information that ATAGI did not endorse the procedures implemented by the Victorian government or Tennis Australia and was never involved.
So who issued Djokovic's high-profile announcement that he had obtained a "waiver of entry" permit? Now everyone is throwing the pot, so no one can figure it out. Djokovic misestimated the influence of his "nine-time Australian Open champion", thinking that the Australian people loved him, thinking that the Australian people were looking forward to "finally clearing the vaccine barrier", he rushed to Melbourne, and did not expect to be unconsciously planted as a "privilege" target.
In the eyes of the Australian Open and the Australian Tennis Association, Djokovic is a "cash cow" that needs to be protected, while in the eyes of the Australian Federal Government, Djokovic is a "cash cow" that is valuable to cut down!
The latest polls show that opposition Labour's support suppresses incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition Party by more than ten percentage points, while Australia's general election is expected to take place in May. The Coalition party must take action to change the situation, of which unblocking and then stimulating the economy is one of them, but there is a risk in unblocking. At this time, the high-profile Djokovic came to the door to crack down on the "privilege" that voters hate the most, affirming the seriousness of the federal government on national security and strict control of the epidemic, and this opportunity is indeed the best opportunity!
From djokovic's point of view, whether he can enter Australia and whether he can get on the stage of Melbourne Park is obviously more important than achieving ten consecutive Australian Open titles and surpassing Federer and Nadal to become the first in history in the Grand Slam number...