File photo of Novak Djokovic
Highlights
- The Australian government canceled his visa shortly after Djokovic arrived in Melbourne.
- Officials said he didn't meet the criteria for an exemption to an entry requirement.
- Djokovic argued he did not need proof of vaccination.
An Australian judge who will decide the fate of Novak Djokovic's participation in the Australian Open 2022 questioned on Monday what more the top-ranked tennis star could have done to meet Australia's coronavirus entry requirements.
The 34-year-old is fighting deportation and the cancellation of his visa in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
The Australian government canceled his visa shortly after he arrived in Melbourne late Wednesday because officials decided he didn't meet the criteria for an exemption to an entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Djokovic argued he did not need proof of vaccination because he had evidence that he had been infected with the coronavirus last month.
Australian medical authorities have ruled that a temporary exemption for the vaccination rule can be provided to people who have been infected with COVID-19 within six months.
Circuit Court Judge Anthony Kelly noted that Djokovic had provided officials at Melbourne's airport with a medical exemption given him by Tennis Australia, which is organizing the tournament that starts on Jan.
17, and two medical panels.
“The point I'm somewhat agitated about is what more could this man have done?” Kelly asked Djokovic's lawyer, Nick Wood.
Wood agreed with the judge that Djokovic could not have done more.
Transcripts of Djokovic's interview with Border Force officials and his own affidavit revealed a “repeated appeal to the officers with which he was dealing that to his understanding, uncontradicted, he had done absolutely everything that he understood was required in order for him to enter Australia,” Wood said.
Djokovic has been under guard in hotel quarantine in Melbourne since Thursday, when his visa was canceled.
But the judge ordered that the world No.1-ranked tennis player be released from hotel quarantine during his court hearing.
It was not clear where Djokovic relocated to during his hearing.
He did not appear on screen in the first hours of the virtual hearing.
Lawyers for Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews will make their submission later Monday on why Djokovic should be deported.
Djokovic's lawyers submitted 11 grounds for appeal against his visa cancellation.
The lawyers described the cancellation as “seriously illogical,” irrational and legally unreasonable.
The virtual hearing crashed several times because of an overwhelming number of people from around the world trying to watch the proceedings.
Djokovic is a nine-time Australian Open champion.
He has 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a men's record he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic's Serb fans on edge as Australia hearing begins
Novak Djokovic's parents joined a protest rally in downtown Belgrade with their tennis-great son still in an Australian immigration detention hotel as fans of Djokovic in Serbia nervously awaited a crucial court hearing which could decide whether he can play at the Australian Open.
The virtual hearing began Monday in Melbourne, with Djokovic appealing his visa cancellation amid a growing public debate over his positive coronavirus test that his lawyers used as grounds in applying for a medical exemption to Australia's strict vaccination rules.
The top-ranked Serb, who hopes to defend his title at the Australian Open and win a men's record 21st Grand Slam singles title, was denied entry when he arrived at Melbourne's airport on Wednesday and was awaiting the court hearing to challenge his deportation.
The hearing began shortly before 11 a.m. local time Monday (0000 GMT or 7 p.m. EST Sunday) in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
Djokovic's lawyers filed 35 pages of submissions in which they outlined 11 grounds of appeal.
They described the decision to cancel the visa as illogical and unreasonable.
The Australian Open begins Jan.17 — just a week from Djokovic's court date.
The case has polarized opinions around the world and elicited heartfelt support for the tennis star in his native Serbia.
“Today is a big day. Today, the whole world will hear the truth," Djokovic's mother, Dijana Djokovic, told the crowd on Sunday in downtown Belgrade.
"We hope that Novak will come out as a free man. We send great love to Novak. We believe in him, but also in the independent judiciary in Melbourne,” she said.
Djokovic's father, Srdjan Djokovic, said “this is happening because we are only a small part of the world, but we are proud people.
“They can't break us. Novak is the personification of freedom, everything human that one man contains in himself.
Shame on them!”
Dijana Djokovic said that the conditions in the hotel in Melbourne where Djokovic is staying are “not humane.”
“He doesn't even have breakfast,” she said.
“He has a wall to stare at and he can't even see a park in front or go out of the room.”
Australian officials initially said Djokovic, a vocal skeptic of vaccines who has refused to say if he has gotten the COVID-19 shot, would be given an exemption to stringent vaccine rules by state authorities and be able to participate in the Australian Open.
But when he landed, his visa was canceled by federal border officials.
The exemption request said Djokovic's first positive test was Dec.16 and, on the date of issue, it said the 34-year-old player “had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms in the past 72 hours.”
Social media is swamped with questions over Djokovic's whereabouts after the alleged positive COVID-19 test amid a surge of the pandemic.
Djokovic attended two public events on Dec.16 in Belgrade, as well as a Dec.17 event in the Serbian capital honoring young tennis players.
The event was covered by local media, and parents posted photos on social media showing Djokovic and the children not wearing masks.
It's not clear if Djokovic knew the results of his test at the time.
Days later he was shown playing tennis in a park in front of his apartment in Belgrade.
“Legally, Djokovic doesn't have to explain what happened (after his positive test) but it would be very good for his reputation here and the whole world,” Sasa Ozmo, a Serbian sports journalist, told the N1 television.
About 120 vaccine opponents, according to police estimates, marched Sunday in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, chanting, among other things, slogans in support of Djokovic.
The protesters, who included a number of health workers suspended because of their refusal to be vaccinated, gathered in the city's iconic White Tower and marched to the Serbian Consulate.
The protesters chanted Djokovic's name, as well as "We are all Djokovic,” “Greece, Serbia, alliance,” and “Greece, Serbia, Orthodoxy."
There is a widespread pro-Serb sentiment in Greece based on both countries' adherence to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
- With inputs from AP
