Djokovic Might 'Excite Anti-Vaxxers'

An update on what's going on down under as the World No 1 has his visa cancelled for a second time

Photo: npr.org

As postulated earlier in the week, Novak was skating on thin ice and Alex Hawke (Australia’s immigration minister) took full advantage of the situation.

Late on Friday evening (6.03pm Australian time) Mr Hawke issued a statement stating that he had exercised his power under the Migration Act to cancel Djokovic’s visa on health and good order grounds and on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so. He said that the decision was made after carefully considering information provided to him by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic.

Djokovic then had the decision to appeal the decision in court or get deported immediately. Obviously, he chose the latter option.

A directions hearing was then timetabled for 8.45pm before Judge Anthony Kelly in the Federal Circuit Court.

During the hearing the Judge asked for clues as to the grounds for the decision, to which the lawyers replied that the reasons “stand in stark contrast to the reasons that were promulgated at the airport”. Furthermore, there is potential for “exciting anti-vax sentiment” if Djokovic is allowed to remain in Australia.

Mr Hawke’s lawyers said they were prepared to give an undertaking that they would not seek to deport Djokovic until a final decision is made and that they want him to go to immigration offices at 8am in the morning. The Minister’s lawyers seem to think the assessment of his vaccine passport exemption is an issue that remains unresolved.

The session has now adjourned with the case on Sunday being heard in the Federal Court. Djokovic will be taken to his interview tomorrow morning, then back to his lawyers’ office until 2pm. It is likely he will be in immigration detention again on Saturday night. He will then be taken back to his lawyers’ office on Sunday, supervised the whole time by border force officers, before going to court. However, the location of his detention is still being negotiated as the Minister’s lawyers want to take him somewhere which hasn’t been revealed “to the world”.

If Djokovic is deported there will be a standard three year ban from the country, meaning, unless he’s allowed in for compassionate grounds, it is highly unlikely he will ever play in Australia again (depending on when he retires). If he isn’t deported he will be playing on Monday, which will give him no time to practice or prepare.

Mixing sport and politics is rarely a good idea and as the late journalist Clive James once said “The problem with Australians is not that so many of them are descended from convicts, but that so many of them are descended from prison officers.”