Novak Djokovic, the world number one in men's tennis, will spend at least 72 hours in a Melbourne hotel before the next hearing next Monday in his battle to overturn the decision to ban him from entering Australia.
The Serbian player was detained in a hotel room for quarantine after the authorities canceled his visa after arriving in Australia late on Wednesday evening.
Djokovic said a few days ago that he had obtained a medical exemption from the Corona virus vaccine, which would enable him to participate in the Australian Open, but the statement of the Australian border authorities stated after his arrival and arrest that “the Australian border authorities can confirm that Mr. Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the requirements to enter Australia As a result, his visa was cancelled.
Australia imposes strict restrictions on arrivals, and imposes on them proof of obtaining vaccination, as part of its measures to confront the Corona virus, and the exception of Djokovic and granting him a medical exemption has raised a state of controversy towards the player, who is classified among those who reject vaccination.
Listening session
At a hearing Thursday, representatives for Djokovic and the immigration minister reached an agreement that no step would be taken to deport him before another hearing next Monday in federal court.
The hearing will take place a week before the start of the 2022 Australian Open, a tournament that Djokovic seeks to win for the tenth time to hold the record number of times to win major slams (21 titles) at the expense of his rivals Swiss Rajid Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
According to Nadal, who recently recovered from Corona before he was allowed to participate in Australia, Djokovic was able to facilitate the situation on himself by receiving the Corona vaccine.
"It is normal that people here in Australia are very frustrated with this because they have been through a lot of difficult lockdowns, and a lot of people have not been able to return to the country," he said.
He added, "The only thing I can say is that I believe what the pharmacologists say, and if they say we should get vaccinated, we should get vaccinated. I've had corona, I got vaccinated twice, if you do that you won't have a problem playing it." Here, the world, in my view, has suffered enough not to follow the regulations."
"I think if (Djokovic) wanted, he would have played here in Australia without problems, he made his own decisions, everyone is free to make their own decisions, but then there will be some consequences," Nadal concluded.