Thursday, January 13, 2022
In the case of a draw in the pot
Djokovic is now part of the Australian Open
Novak Djokovic is now officially part of the Australian Open: In the draw for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Serb is in the pot. Whether the world number one will actually be allowed to compete has not yet been answered.
Novak Djokovic is officially part of the Australian Open for the first time: At the draw in the early morning German time, the Serbian, who was ranked 1, was in the pot. In his first round match, the 34-year-old should meet his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic. The German top player Alexander Zverev also has to deal with a compatriot: The world number three meets Daniel Altmaier.
Whether Djokovic will actually be allowed to start the tournament that starts on Monday depends on a decision by Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke. The “Herald Sun”, the largest newspaper in the country, had quoted a source close to the government the previous evening that the government would do everything possible to “avoid a dangerous precedent”. A Saturday Paper journalist tweeted that he had “heard that Immigration Secretary Alex Hawke will expel the Joker tomorrow.” Tournament boss Craig Tiley made no statements about the status of the discussion about Djokovic’s participation in his tournament during the draw.
There has been a dispute about Djokovic’s visa for days: The unvaccinated and with a medical exception permit, the Serbs who had arrived at the airport in Melbourne, were refused entry because he could not present a corona vaccination certificate and the border officials did not recognize his exception permit. On Monday, however, a court re-awarded him his visa. Immigration Minister Hawke has since reserved the right to make use of his personal rights and still invalidate Djokovic’s visa.
There are several inconsistencies in the “Causa Djokovic”. Djokovic said that on his immigration form he had inadvertently given incorrect information about his travel activities before the flight to Melbourne. Djokovic said that the form had been filled in by his team, which he told the immigration authorities upon arrival. “My agent sincerely apologizes,” he added. It was “a human error and certainly not an intention”. Djokovic had stated that he had not traveled in the 14 days before entry – he had trained in Spain at the end of the year.
At an event with children, at which he appeared without a mask on December 17th, according to previous information in the court documents, one day after “test and diagnosis”, he had not yet known about the positive result. He did a negative antigen test on December 16 and, out of sheer caution, also a PCR test. “I had no symptoms and felt fine and I received the news of the positive PCR test only after the event,” wrote Djokovic. However, there have been reports of possible new inconsistencies with this test. The “Spiegel” wrote that the PCR test presented by Djokovic’s lawyers in a Serbian database was dated to a later date and did not come from December 16.
It is not yet known whether the draw, which was postponed by more than an hour at short notice in the morning without giving any reason, would give an indication of the final ministerial decision. According to a report by the Australian news agency AAP, new information from Djokovic’s lawyers has postponed the time frame for a final decision by the minister, the minister’s office said. Other documents had been submitted that could prove relevant to a possible cancellation of Djokovic’s visa. “That will of course affect the time frame for a decision,” it said.