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Rewind the clock a few days, things looked pretty good for Djokovic to come and compete in the Australian Open. But within 24-48 hours of Djokovic announcing his exemption approval, things went south. As Djokovic arrived in Australia, he was refused entry at the border and detained for further questioning. Of course, this isn’t how things were supposed to go for him and his team! However, in recent days, a lot of news has been shared which somewhat dances around the specifics of what has happened here.
Therefore, I’d like to share the true story of what has happened with Djokovic and what could happen next.
Aus Open dream in doubt for Djokovic
We all know that Djokovic is still in Australia right now, fighting his case to get in the country to compete in the Australian Open. But how has this happened in the first place?
Tournament exemption
The Australian Open board has made it quite clear that players are required to be double vaccinated in order to compete. Djokovic hasn’t publicly acknowledged whether he is or isn’t vaccinated either. But because he applied for a medical exemption, we can put two and two together to assume that he isn’t. However, his exemption request to the board was approved, although no specifics were shared publicly.
This meant that the board was all set to accept his participation in the tournament.
Visa mistake
Here is where things get a little interesting. And there has been plenty of false information given about his entry refusal. Basically, it’s not the fact that he isn’t vaccinated (assumedly) that has prevented his entrance into Australia. It’s the visa itself that is the issue, as the visa he was using doesn’t permit medical exemptions from the vaccine. This has been made clear by Australian border officials and even the Australian PM, Scott Morrison.
That is the real reason that Djokovic was stopped at the border. That is also why he was subsequently taken for further questioning and is even facing deportation.
Lawyers file injunction
With Novak Djokovic being quite a high-profile sportsman, he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. And it has become quite a public fight at that. He is currently staying at the Park Hotel, in Melbourne, under the protection of Federal border agents. Of course, this isn’t because he is in any danger, it’s because technically, he isn’t allowed to be in the country. But since he has been made aware that he is facing deportation, his lawyers have jumped into action and filed an injunction.
This would prevent deportation from taking place. Although how he would then get around the restrictions to compete is another story.
Hearing on Monday
At the time of writing, the hearing on Djokovic’s case has been postponed until Monday. So until then, we won’t really hear any significant news on whether he is likely to compete at the event or not. But come Monday, tennis fans all around the world will be watching. And it is anyone’s guess as to what the outcome will be
