Premium Times
World No.1 Novak Djokovic lost his appeal against his visa cancellation by the Australian Minister of Immigration, Alex Hawke, on Sunday, after three judges heard the appeal and unanimously dismissed Djokovic’s appeal.
Mr Hawke, on Friday, cancelled the Serb’s visa on the grounds that Djokovic’s presence in the country could fan anti-Covid-19 views and protest.
In a statement, Hawke said, “Today [January 14] I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so.
“This decision followed orders by the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 10 January 2022, quashing a prior cancellation decision on procedural fairness grounds.”
With the visa cancellation, Djokovic will now be deported from Australia, where he has won a record nine Australian Open titles, including the last three, and could have gone ahead of both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in their three-way tie on 20 majors.
Trouble actually began for Djokovic on January 4 when he announced he would be defending his Australian Open title after receiving a vaccination exemption from the Australian government. This led to a backlash from the Australian public, who have been under one of the strictest Covid-19 regulations in the world.
Thus when Djokovic landed at the Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne, he was denied entry and detained. This was because the Australian government failed to sponsor the Serb’s visa. Acting sports minister Jaala Pulford confirmed the government did not support Djokovic’s visa application to compete in the Australian Open. Thereafter Djokovic was moved to a Covid-19 detention centre – the Park Hotel.
On Monday, January 10, Judge Anthony Kelly ruled that his visa cancellation should be revoked…
