Thursday, January 13, 2022
Documents for entry are missing
Spain is now also investigating against Djokovic
In Australia, Novak Djokovic is threatened with expulsion, and now his stay in Spain around the turn of the year is also being viewed critically. As reported by Spanish media, the tennis world number one could have entered Serbia illegally.
In addition to the entry dispute in Australia, tennis star Novak Djokovic may also face trouble with the authorities in Spain. Everything indicates that the 34-year-old Serb entered the EU country illegally shortly before New Year’s Eve, as reported by the usually well-informed radio station Cadena Cope and other Spanish media. When he entered the country, the world number one neither presented proof of vaccination nor applied for the special permit that is mandatory for unvaccinated Serbs in Spain, it said, citing the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid. The government in Madrid commissioned the police to initiate an investigation.
According to media reports from Spain and Australia, among others, Djokovic was seen, photographed and filmed on December 31 and January 2 and 3 in the posh southern Spanish seaside resort of Marbella. There he trained, among other things, in the Club de Tenis Puente Romano and gave autographs, as reported, among other things, by the renowned Spanish newspaper “El País”. According to the media, the Serb owns a house in Marbella in the province of Andalusia.
A bunch of inconsistencies
Meanwhile, the Australian authorities are still eagerly awaiting the decision as to whether Djokovic can stay in the country and defend his title at the Australian Open from Monday. Last week he was refused entry into the country because he was not vaccinated against the corona virus and the authorities did not have sufficient documentation for his medical exemption. However, because the border officials had not given him the agreed time to clarify the matter, the judge temporarily overturned the decision on Monday.
There are several inconsistencies in the “Causa Djokovic”. Djokovic explained that his entry form had accidentally given false information about his travel activities before the flight to Melbourne. The form was filled out by his support team, which he told the immigration authorities upon his arrival, explained Djokovic. “My agent sincerely apologizes,” he added. It was a “human error and certainly not intentional”. Djokovic had stated that he had not traveled in the 14 days before entering the country – he had trained in Spain at the end of the year.
There are also discrepancies regarding the PCR test results presented by Djokovic’s lawyers. Accordingly, the world number one was tested positive on December 16th and then negative again on December 22nd. According to “Spiegel”, however, the digital test results, which can be viewed by scanning the QR code, raise questions. The URL with the digital time stamp of the positive test allegedly carried out on December 16th states that the test was only carried out on December 26th. If the test is negative, the time stamp is correct again. The question is therefore open as to whether the positive test was simply entered into the system late, whether it actually only took place on December 26th or could even have been invented in order to meet the Australian visa requirements.