Friday, January 07, 2022
Lawyer: Djokovic will play
Australia sends the next tennis star to the immigration hotel
Australia is reviewing the visas of other tennis stars who are said to have not met the entry requirements and is revoking the visa of the Czech player Renata Voráčová. She has to go to the same immigration hotel as Novak Djokovic. A lawyer grants this “good chances” of participating in a tournament.
The news about the allegedly unvaccinated tennis star Novak Djokovic, his visa status and the Australian Open do not stop. Shortly before the start of the tournament (January 17th), according to an interview with Interior Secretary Karen Andrews, there is even more uncertainty about the course of the days until the first serve. Andrews told Australian TV broadcaster Channel 9 that there is information “that suggests there are some people here who have not met the entry requirements and we need to investigate.” The border guards determine. However, she did not say in the interview how many other players are being investigated or who they are. She confirmed two suspected cases to ABC News.
According to ABC News, tennis player Renata Voráčová from the Czech Republic has now had her visa for Australia revoked. She has to go to the same immigration hotel as the Serbian world number one. Doubles player Voráčová had already participated in a warm-up tournament in Melbourne and was arrested by officers from the Australian border police on Thursday (local time). It is believed that Voráčová entered Australia last month with a vaccination exemption from Tennis Australia – just as Djokovic had planned – because she recently contracted and recovered from Covid-19. Actually, only those vaccinated against Corona are allowed to enter the country. It is not yet known whether Voráčová will also take action against the decision of the authorities.
“We can confirm that Czech tennis player Renata Voráčová is in the same forced accommodation as Djokovic with several other players,” said the Czech Foreign Ministry in a statement. “We have protested through our embassy in Canberra and ask for an explanation of the situation.”
Meanwhile, the state government of the state of Victoria, where the Australian Open is taking place, complained that it had missed communications between the federal government and the Australian tennis association prior to Djokovic’s entry attempt. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday that Tennis Australia had been warned twice by its government that being infected with Covid-19 in the past six months would not automatically classify Djokovic as eligible for entry.
Lawyer: “Good chance” for Djokovic
Victoria’s Prime Minister Jacinta Allan said in an interview with reporters that her Victoria administration did not see the crucial correspondence before it was published by Morrison. So she didn’t know that recovery was a valid medical exception. It would be the task of the government of Victoria, as the state hosting the Australian Open, to “organize a safe event”. Djokovic had been granted a medical exemption for his entry after a review by two independent health committees set up by Tennis Australia and the Victoria State Government.
Furthermore, Australia and the tennis world are concerned with the question of whether Djokovic can somehow still participate in the Australian Open. According to a lawyer, the Serb could use a legal loophole for this. Justin Quill, a leading litigation attorney in Australia, told the Herald Sun newspaper that given the lengthy appeal process, there is “a pretty good chance he will play at the Australian Open.”
Quill does not believe that Djokovic “will win his case”, but that the process simply “needs more time and he can stay in the country and take part in the Australian Open”. The lawyer said: “The burden for Djokovic not to compete is probably greater than the burden for the interior minister.” The court will probably allow him to stay in the country for the time being while the rest will be clarified. Of course, it still has to be clarified whether this is equivalent to participating in a tournament, but the tennis association wants to have the Serbs with them, as is well known. The dispute in court over the Djokovic case could continue for months.