NEW DELHI, Jan 14: The Australian government has again cancelled the visa of the ace tennis star and currently the defending champion of Australia Open Novak Djokovic’s making his participation in the tournament starting on January 17 uncertain.
Friday’s cancellation of his visa was the second time the ace tennis star faced the rebuff. The visa was rejected on the ground that unvaccinated Djokovic’ for COVID-19 may pose a risk to the community and people of Australia.
The decision raises the prospect of a second court battle by the Serbian tennis star to be allowed to stay and bid for a record 21st major tennis title at the Australian Open. Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke exercised his discretionary powers to revoke Djokovic’s visa after a court quashed an earlier revocation and had released him from immigration detention on January 10.
“Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr. Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” Hawke said in a statement. The government “is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hawke said.
He said he had “carefully considered” information from Djokovic, the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force. Under the section of the Migration Act which the minister used to exercise his power to cancel the visa, Djokovic would not be able to secure a visa to come to Australia for three years, except in compelling circumstances that affect Australia’s interest.
Djokovic, the Australian Open defending champion, was included in the draw only on Thursday as the top seed and was due to face fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic for his opening match, probably on January 17 or January 18.
The saga has intensified global debate over rights of choice for vaccines, raised questions over Australia’s bungled handling of Djokovic’s visa and become a tricky issue for Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he campaigns for re-election.
The tennis star, a vaccine skeptic, fuelled widespread anger in Australia when he announced last week he was heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open with a medical exemption to requirements for visitors to be inoculated against COVID-19.
Australia has endured some of the world’s longest lockdowns, has a 90% vaccination rate among adults, and has seen a runaway Omicron outbreak bring nearly a million cases in the last two weeks.
On his arrival, Australian Border Force officials decided his exemption was invalid and he was held alongside asylum-seekers at an immigration detention hotel for several days.
A court on January 10 allowed him to stay on the grounds that officials had been “unreasonable” in the way they handled his interview in a seven-hour process in the middle of the night.
Djokovic’s cause was not helped by a mistake in his entry declaration relating to overseas travel in the prior two weeks, which he attributed to his agent. He also acknowledged he should have rescheduled an interview and photoshoot for a French newspaper on December 18 while infected with COVID-19.
An online poll found that 83% of the Australians supported the government trying to deport the tennis star.
(Manas Dasgupta)