Novak Djokovic’s entry into Australia delayed due to visa issue

The tennis player is involved in a controversy over his vaccination exemption allowing him to play in the upcoming Australian Open

Guardar
Novak Djokovic arrives at Adelaide Airport ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Adelaide, Australia, January 14, 2021. Picture taken January 14, 2021.  AAP Image/Morgan Sette via REUTERS  ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT
Novak Djokovic arrives at Adelaide Airport ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Adelaide, Australia, January 14, 2021. Picture taken January 14, 2021. AAP Image/Morgan Sette via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT

World number one Novak Djokovic has arrived at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport, but his entry into the country is being help up due to an issue with his visa.

The Serbian tennis star received a medical exemption for playing in the Australian Open, but his team did not request a visa which permits medical exemptions for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

State government Minister Jaala Pulford tweeted his application would not be supported, and said visa approvals were a matter for the federal government.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned Djokovic he won’t get any special treatment from the government.

“Any individual seeking to enter Australia must comply with our border requirements,” said Morrison. “If he’s not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.”

“If that evidence is insufficient, then he won’t be treated any different to anyone else and he’ll be on the next plane home.”

Tennis Australia and the Australian Open have insisted Djokovic wasn’t given any preferential treatment with the issuance of the medical exemption, but the decision has outraged many in Australia and the tennis community.

Djokovic has never publicly stated if he’s vaccinated or not, but during a Facebook chat session in April 2020 said he “wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine if it was necessary to travel or play in a tournament.”

His wife has also posted false information about the vaccine on her social media account.

KEEP READING

Guardar

Últimas Noticias

Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons

Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons

Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024

She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024

Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris

Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris

Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years

The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years

Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”

The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”