Should the 34-year-old Serb not go to court again, he will have to leave Australia and will not be able to defend his title.
Novak Djokovic’s entry permit was revoked again.
At 7:52 a.m. Central European Time, the odyssey for Novak Djokovic’s entry permit for Australia reached its next stop. In the late afternoon Australian time, the responsible minister, Alex Hawke, exercised his right and canceled the visa again. In a media release, the minister announced that he had carefully checked all available information beforehand. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government is determined to protect Australia’s borders in the context of the Covid pandemic.
BREAKING:
Alex Hawke, the Australian Minister for Immigration, has canceled Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa “on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so.”
This is effectively a re-deportation order for the unvaccinated nine-time #OffOpen champion. pic.twitter.com/2P611AbUiw
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 14, 2022
Djokovic had already been detained in a quarantine hotel for several days after entering the country a week ago before a judge called in Melbourne declared his visa valid on Monday. The Serb is unvaccinated and traveled to Australia with a special entry permit because he wants to be ill with Covid in December. Since then, however, more and more question marks have arisen about his illness. At the same time, he did not mention on the entry forms that he had left Serbia before flying to Australia and made a detour to Marbella in Spain. There, too, he is now being investigated for violating the Covid measures.
The mood against Djokovic is extremely negative
It is still unclear whether Djokovic will accept the visa withdrawal this time and leave Australia. The world number one has not yet commented on the latest development. He still has the option of going to court to have his exclusion from the tournament, which starts on Monday, reversed. On Thursday it was heard from the Serb’s environment that he would take further legal action if his visa was revoked.
However, Djokovic increasingly has to ask himself how sensible it is to continue to rebel against the will of the Australian government. The mood against him is extremely negative. Should he nevertheless compete in Melbourne, he is likely to be exposed to the displeasure of a large part of the audience.
Novak Djokovic has won the tournament in Melbourne nine times, more than anyone else. With another win, he could have won his 21st Grand Slam title and thus become the sole major record winner ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In the first round he was supposed to face his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic (ATP 78).