Australian federal court upholds cancellation of Djokovic's Australian visa
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic rides in car as he leaves a government detention facility before attending a court hearing at his lawyers office in Melbourne, Australia on Jan 16, 2022. (Photo: James Ross/AAP via AP)
16 Jan 2022
CHANNEL NEWS ASIA
MELBOURNE: An Australian court upheld a government decision to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa on Sunday (Jan 16), ending the tennis superstar's hopes of winning the Australian Open after a sensational 11-day battle over his COVID-19 vaccination status.
Ruling on a case that has gripped Australia and the sporting world for more than a week, a three-judge bench of the Federal Court heard government lawyers arguments that Djokovic's continued presence risked whipping up anti-vaccination sentiment during Australia's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
A medical exemption that allowed the Serbian tennis world number one to enter the country without being vaccinated had sparked fury in Australia, and became a political issue for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has to call a federal election before May.
In a few dry words, the chief justice of Australia's Federal Court, James Allsop, Sunday dispensed with Djokovic's attempt to reinstate his cancelled visa.
"The orders of the court are that the amended application be dismissed with costs", Allsop said announcing the unanimous decision, on the eve of the first matches at the Australian Open.
The 34-year-old defending champion and first seed had been scheduled to play in the evening of the first day. If he had retained the title he would become the first men's tennis player in history to win 21 Grand Slams.
Instead, the openly anti-COVID-19 vaccine tennis superstar is now set to be kept in detention pending a quick flight out of Australia.
MELBOURNE: An Australian court upheld a government decision to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa on Sunday (Jan 16), ending the tennis superstar's hopes of winning the Australian Open after a sensational 11-day battle over his COVID-19 vaccination status.
Ruling on a case that has gripped Australia and the sporting world for more than a week, a three-judge bench of the Federal Court heard government lawyers arguments that Djokovic's continued presence risked whipping up anti-vaccination sentiment during Australia's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
A medical exemption that allowed the Serbian tennis world number one to enter the country without being vaccinated had sparked fury in Australia, and became a political issue for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has to call a federal election before May.
In a few dry words, the chief justice of Australia's Federal Court, James Allsop, Sunday dispensed with Djokovic's attempt to reinstate his cancelled visa.
"The orders of the court are that the amended application be dismissed with costs", Allsop said announcing the unanimous decision, on the eve of the first matches at the Australian Open.
The 34-year-old defending champion and first seed had been scheduled to play in the evening of the first day. If he had retained the title he would become the first men's tennis player in history to win 21 Grand Slams.
Instead, the openly anti-COVID-19 vaccine tennis superstar is now set to be kept in detention pending a quick flight out of Australia.
