Beijing time, January 16: At 2:45 p.m. Beijing time today, the collegial panel of the Australian Federal Court ruled in a 3-0 vote to reject Djokovic's lawsuit against Australian Immigration Minister Hawke to cancel the visa cancellation of Serbian tennis player Djokovic. At 7:50 Beijing time tonight, Djokovic has taken the opportunity to leave Melbourne and has lost the qualification for the Australian Open. The farce that caused by Djokovic's entry into Australia over the past 11 days to prepare for the Australian Open has finally come to an end, and Djokovic ended in one of the most ugly situations, and there will be more problems in the future if he insists on not vaccinating. Today we will discuss this issue for the last time.
At 6:30 a.m. Beijing time this morning, that is, at 9:30 a.m. local time, Djokovic's lawsuit against Australian Immigration Minister Hawke for visa cancellation was heard in the Australian Federal Court in a three-member collegial panel. After nearly four hours of hearing in the first and second half, the collegial panel entered the deliberation stage, and at 2:45 p.m. Beijing time, Justice O'Callahan announced that after a vote, the collegial panel ruled 3-0 to reject Djokovic's litigation claim in support of Hawke's decision to cancel the visa. Justice O'Callaghan said he would publish the verdict of the case in the coming days to elaborate on the reasons for the penalty in this case. The result also means djokovic will be immediately repatriated and disqualified from this year's Australian Open. And because the visa was cancelled by the minister also means that there are no special circumstances in djokovic for the next three years, there is no way to apply for an Australian visa again.
After the verdict was announced, Djokovic released a statement through the media, saying, "I would like to make a brief statement about the outcome of today's court hearing." I will now take some time to rest and recover before making further comments. I am very disappointed with the ruling. The focus over the last few weeks has been on me and I feel very uncomfortable and I hope we can now focus on the games and events that I love. I wish all the players, tournament officials, staff, volunteers and fans who participated in the event. Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, team, supporters, fans and my fellow Serbians for their continued support. You are all important sources of my strength. ”
In addition to Djokovic's brief statement, ATP and Australian Open officials also issued statements on the matter. Both atP and Australian Open officials have shown respect for the court's decision, expressing regret that Djokovic cannot participate in this year's Australian Open. However, due to the consideration of the epidemic prevention policy of the host area and the situation of the global pandemic of the new crown epidemic, we once again strongly call on all players to be vaccinated, which can avoid many unnecessary troubles. At the same time, it is also hoped that all parties can learn from this incident and learn lessons to avoid similar things from happening again.
At 7:50 p.m. Beijing time today, Djokovic and his party took Emirates flight EK409 from Melbourne Airport to Dubai, ending this bad trip to Australia. In fact, although we look back at this matter, although the so-called medical exemption given by the Australian side to Djokovic is problematic, it is indeed difficult to accept that he will be repatriated in the future, but he has not been vaccinated and has had many anti-vaccine remarks that have become an important argument for lawyers in the government today. After all, the reason given by Minister Hawke for canceling Djokovic's visa is based on the wrong demonstration that he did not vaccinate the Australian people, and after the announcement of today's judgment, Hawke also issued a statement again to express appreciation for the court's judgment and firmly believe that the epidemic prevention policy and high vaccination rate implemented by Australia are effective.
This time Djokovic and the Australian authorities stumbled to the last moment and he suffered undoubtedly the biggest blow. After Djokovic arrived in Australia and was detained, he actually had the opportunity to choose to leave. Such an operation could have been thrown to the Australian authorities, and he could have been persecuted, but he did not give in but chose to sue. The first round of litigation Djokovic hired at great expense found procedural errors in the Australian official decision to cancel the visa. He also went to Rodrawall stadium for training instead of opting out after the win, which also gave Minister Hawke the opportunity to exercise his discretion. In fact, onlookers are well aware that the first victory is only a procedural issue and not what is wrong with canceling the visa. At the time, all sides hoped that Djokovic chose to leave, perhaps a good outcome for both sides. The first lawsuit also exposed many things that the public did not know, such as Djokovic's attendance at public events after being diagnosed with the new crown, and his incorrect provision of entry information. These confused behaviors caused his already not-so-good personality to collapse again. After today's second trial, Djokovic was deported with the worst result.
Djokovic's expulsion not only set several embarrassing records, in the past seven Grand Slam matches in the 2020 US Open he was ruled to be disqualified for venting in the fourth round of the match, the 2020 French Open final swallowed by Nadal and won the runner-up, in 2021 won three consecutive Australian Fawin three Grand Slams, but in the US Open was swept by Medvedev did not qualify for the annual Grand Slam, this year's Australian Open was deported and did not have the opportunity to defend the title. In the current situation of the new crown pandemic, countries are calling for increased vaccination rates to fight the epidemic, and the inability to participate in the Australian Open is just the beginning, and if he insists on not vaccinating, it will be difficult to participate in the competition in the future. I believe that after this incident, Djokovic will most likely choose to be vaccinated, after all, he will sacrifice some of his so-called insistence in order to get more Grand Slams.
The Australian Open competition will start at 8am on the 17th, and we will fully focus on Melbourne Park to bring you the report of the Australian Open.