Novak Djokovic: Why other professionals were allowed to enter, but he wasn’t

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Australian Open
Immigration farce: Why other professionals were allowed into the country and Djokovic wasn’t

Novak Djokovic almost a year ago after winning the Australian Open in 2021

© Paul Crock / AFP

Tim Schulze

by Tim Schulze

While Novak Djokovic was refused entry to Australia, other tennis professionals have apparently entered the country with the same exemption. That could turn out to be embarrassing for the immigration authorities.

The Djokovic case is now growing into an international affair. Even the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic interfered. For them, the case is clear: The entry ban to Australia has political reasons. She did not mention which ones they should be.

The father of the world number one, Srdjan Djokovic, compared his son’s stay in a Quran hotel with the fate of Jesus: “Jesus was crucified, everything was done to him, and he endured it and still lives among us,” he announced at a press conference.

In this case, it is presumably a matter of a completely earthly farce, to which both sides contribute their part.

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After the cancellation of his entry visa, the Serbian tennis star is fighting against his deportation from Australia practically at the last minute. Lawyers of the world number one appealed against the visa revocation on Thursday afternoon (local time) in a court in Melbourne, like the Australian news portal "The Age" reported. Accordingly, they were still looking for documents and should be heard by Judge Anthony Kelly during the day. Djokovic had traveled to Australia with a highly controversial medical exemption and landed in Melbourne late Wednesday evening (local time) to take part in the Australian Open. The tournament starts on January 17th. The Australian border protection authority, however, denied him regular entry - and instead had the 34-year-old brought to a hotel for those obliged to leave the country. Djokovic should start the journey home on Thursday.

Novak Djokovic

After the cancellation of his entry visa, the Serbian tennis star is fighting against his deportation from Australia practically at the last minute. Lawyers of the world number one appealed against the visa revocation on Thursday afternoon (local time) in a court in Melbourne, such as the Australian news portal “The Age” reported. Accordingly, they were still looking for documents and should be heard by Judge Anthony Kelly during the day. Djokovic had traveled to Australia with a highly controversial medical exemption and landed in Melbourne late Wednesday evening (local time) to take part in the Australian Open. The tournament starts on January 17th. The Australian border protection authority, however, denied him regular entry – and instead had the 34-year-old brought to a hotel for those obliged to leave the country. Djokovic should start the journey home on Thursday.

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Novak Djokovic probably only submitted one certificate – too little

On the one hand, there is the Australian immigration authority, which has to put up with the question of why another professional and a functionary were allowed to enter the country with the same exemption from the strict Corona rules while Djokovic was arrested. The association issued a total of six special permits, but in the two cases mentioned the situation is apparently similar to that of Djokovic. The Australian immigration authorities promptly announced that they would re-examine the two cases.

Why is? According to the Australian media, Djokovic, the unnamed professional and the official have proven that they had a Covid 19 infection in the past six months and are therefore considered to have recovered. The reason why Djokovic was not allowed to enter is that the Serb only presented a doctor’s certificate, while the other two presented two certificates each. This was reported by sources familiar with the case.

But: According to the reports, Health Minister Greg Hunt had already pointed out to the Australian Tennis Association in November that a recovered Covid 19 infection was not enough: Those who had not been vaccinated twice would not come into the country.

Did politics only react to the rising wave of outrage?

The question that arises for the tennis association is why it even issued the exemption if a Covid 19 infection that has been overcome is not enough? Djokovic has to be admitted that he apparently flew to Melbourne believing that everything was fine. The border authorities again have to put up with the question of why the unknown professional and the official came with two certificates?

Maybe they weren’t looking too closely because both aren’t that prominent. The wave of outrage only really got rolling after Djokovic had posted an Instagram post before his departure. In it he sent a greeting to his fans and reported that he was now heading down under to play the Australian Open. With a special permit in your pocket!

Then the media outrage broke out. The newspaper “The West Australian” commented angrily: “The Djoker has turned into the Joker and shamelessly assigned himself the role of villain before starting his attempt to rule the tennis world.” The fact that vaccination opponent Djokovic, of all people, had received a special permit was viewed as a mockery by many Australians after the country imposed the toughest lockdowns worldwide in the pandemic. Melbourne, the host city of the Australian Open, scored six times for a total of nine months, longer than any other city or region in the world.

It cannot be ruled out that politicians reacted through the nationwide outrage and that the border guards took a closer look. Seen in this way, Ana Brnabic might not have been entirely wrong and Djokovic would be more of a victim than a perpetrator, regardless of his attitude towards vaccination. His lawyers have lodged a complaint and the case will be heard in court on Monday. Exit open.

Sources: “The Age”, “ABC News”, “Süddeutsche Zeitung”

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