Tennis star Djokovic under "detention" at Melbourne airport

Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic is facing a new dilemma that may prevent him from participating in the Australian Open, the first grand slam, after Victorian state government officials refused to support his visa application.

Victoria's acting sports minister, Gala Polford, said on Wednesday that her state had rejected a request for assistance and that visa approval was a matter for the federal government.

It was not clear why the state government would need to provide its support, but Australian media reports said the nine-time Australian Open champion may have applied for the wrong type of visa.

According to reports, "Dioko" arrived in Melbourne late Wednesday.

"The Federal Government has asked if we will support Novak Djokovic's visa application to enter Australia," Bolford said in a tweet.

"We will not provide individual visa application support for Novak Djokovic to participate in the 2022 Australian Open."

The Australian newspaper said Djokovic was seeking to enter the country on a work visa "which he believed would require support from the Victorian state government".

Melbourne's Edge newspaper said FFF contacted the Victorian government when it realized that Djokovic's team had requested the "wrong type of visa".

And the same newspaper reported that it was possible that the world number one would be allowed to leave his plane to Melbourne, but the problem was delaying his entry procedures.” big this month.

The Australian Federation president, Craig Tiley, said that the world number one did not receive any preferential treatment to obtain this exemption, during a process supervised by the Australian and Victorian authorities.

Australia requires all participants in the Australian Open to receive the vaccine or obtain a medical exemption, which is granted only after evaluation by two independent expert panels.

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