Djokovic isolated in Melbourne until Monday with appeal in the works

Novak Djokovic will still be in Melbourne next Monday. Now the question is: will he still be in Melbourne the Monday after that?

Djokovic was initially scheduled to be deported out of Australia on Thursday after he was denied entry upon his arrival at the Melbourne airport on Wednesday night. The nine-time Australian Open champion failed to provide a valid excuse for being unvaccinated, and there was also a mixup with his visa application. Djokovic’s visa was promptly canceled by Australian authorities.

“Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled,” prime minister Scott Morrison tweeted on Thursday morning. “Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant.”

“The advice that I have literally just received before joining you is that the visa for Novak Djokovic has been canceled,” health minister Greg Hunt said at a news conference. “It’s a matter for him whether he wishes to appeal that, but if a visa is canceled somebody will have to leave the country.”

Djokovic is, in fact, appealing. His legal team will file an injunction to allow the world No. 1 to stay in Australia and compete in the season’s first Grand Slam — which begins on Jan. 17. The hearing in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia has been adjourned until Monday, Jan. 10 as Djokovic’s team prepares the necessary paperwork.

Thinking he was good to go for the Aussie Open after receiving a medical exemption from tournament officials earlier this week, Djokovic flew to Melbourne along with the rest of his team. Government officials, however, had other ideas.

Following a full night of unsuccessful negotiations at the Melbourne airport on Wednesday, 34-year-old Serb was transported to the Park Hotel — which is being used as an immigration detention center. He will remain there until Monday’s legal proceedings.

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110 Comments on Djokovic isolated in Melbourne until Monday with appeal in the works

  1. Seems incredibly unlikely that Australian Court would Overrule their own government and customs.

    Really hoping other Majors follow suit and their respective governments deny Djokovic access.

    Anti-Vaccination idiots are causing harm to the entire world. Idiots may be a harsh word but it applies.

  2. Anyone else read his family’s rants?!
    Novax is Spartacus! Also Christ! They are trying to crucify him because, I kid you not, the West is jealous he is the greatest!
    Also, Novax is a human being but the people in gov are not.
    Novax himself has said he is on a higher moral and spiritual plane where God sees everything .
    Dearie me!

    • Yeah, their insanity is nothing new, sadly. Really NoVax isn’t that bad when you look at his parents. The martyr complex kinda fits him, doesn’t it? World #1, GOAT in waiting and sad sack, all in one.

      • This furore has reached everywhere. It’s even in the Graun political opinion column today.
        I just looked at the comments and almost all are vitriolic and unsympathetic towards Novaxx. Some of these are coming from people who happen to be Novaxx fans so he is alienating a huge range of people.
        Everyone approves of Rafa’s comments and he is being quoted approvingly.😀😀😀😀
        This is a politics page so it gives you a good idea of public opinion as there are no fan groups at all just ordinary people.
        His father really is an awful human being.

        • Not his fans amy..his fans are tearing Rafa apart. I wonder what Rafa said that pisses them off. He said the same consistent thing that he has been from begining.

          His fans are also pissed that no tennis player has said a word about this except Paul mcnamee and feli. Their grouse is he always stood for his colleagues eg zverev n tsitsipas n all are silent now and behaving like snakes .

          His fans on Twitter are giving the impression that the whole world is upset at the decision 🙂 read tweets of pavyg.

          Btw they claiming another very high profile tennis player is in with same exemptions , god knows who is it

          • This is absurd. If Djokovic kills someone, the other tennis players should support him? He’s obviously doing something wrong here, so I guess that others keeping quiet about this is as much support as they can offer.

          • You misunderstand me sanju..these are just ordinary people some of whom like Novax, they are not paid up members of Nole Farm. Nole Farm are, generally speaking, borderline insane and prone to the hysterical victim mentality Ramara describes.
            A doubles player admitted on the same exemption as Novax has now been detained.
            Did Novax even have covid in the last 6 months,or did they just make it up? Sounds pretty dodgy to me.
            I blame a lot of this on Tiley. He made remarks earlier which basically sounded like he would fix it for Novax. He may well have intimated this to Novax and his agents, even if he didn’t spell it out word for word, which is why they have been so slapdash.
            But nonetheless the lack of imagination from Novax as to how this would go down with the public is astonishing. If he hadn’t sent those ridiculous self congratulatory messages out this might not have exploded in his face in quite the same way. It does show a level of enormous self absorption on his part..
            Tiley also should have realised how this was going to play out.

  3. Yeah ,its as great moral victory over Novax – a lot of fair criticism- his detractors are loving it and its not even a thing to do with tennis

  4. It has all gotten quite political at this point. The court overruling its own border force and government wouldn’t be a problem, deciding against public opinion would be tricky to say the least.

    I am not an expert on law, but I believe that the court won’t necessarily judge whether “Novax” (well said) is entitled to a medical exemption. That could actually be a lengthy process. They will rather judge whether the border force, based on what he provided at the border, had legal support to ban him from entering the country (because his exemption was not solid enough) or cancel his visa.

    A balanced measure would be to send him home until he is vaccinated or gets a proper exemption but not cancel his visa. He can always claim that the good doctor fooled him that he can’t get vaccinated. However improper use of the visa (i.e. without vaccination certificate) may be enough reason to cancel it.

    I also believe that Australian courts judge based on precedent, which means that whatever they decide now will basically apply to any other similar case in the future. They can’t really afford to do “Novax” any favours.
    This also means that if some other rebellious random bloke already tried this stunt before (unbeknownst to the media), whatever they decided then will apply to “Novax” as well. I would actually be surprised if he’s the first.

    What I don’t fully understand is the part where he has the wrong visa for vaccination exempted people. This means that even if they don’t cancel his current visa he can’t use it anyway and needs a new one. AFAIK that’s not possible to obtain in place, so he needs to get back home and apply for another visa – I guess they will be in a hurry to grant it after all of this.

  5. It has all gotten quite political at this point. The court overruling its own border force and government wouldn’t be a problem, deciding against public opinion would be tricky to say the least.

    I am not an expert on law, but I believe that the court won’t necessarily judge whether “Novax” (well said) is entitled to a medical exemption. That could actually be a lengthy process. They will rather judge whether the border force, based on what he provided at the border, had legal support to ban him from entering the country (because his exemption was not solid enough) or cancel his visa

    A balanced measure would be to send him home until he is vaccinated or gets a proper exemption but not cancel his visa. He can always claim that the good doctor fooled him that he can’t get vaccinated. However improper use of the visa (i.e. without vaccination certificate) may be enough reason to cancel it.

    • I also believe that Australian courts judge based on precedent, which means that whatever they decide now will basically apply to any other similar case in the future. They can’t really afford to do “Novax” any favours.
      This also means that if some other rebellious random dude already tried this stunt before (unbeknownst to the media), whatever they decided then will apply to “Novax” as well. I would actually be surprised if he’s the first.

      What I don’t fully understand is the part where he has the wrong visa for vaccination exempted people. This means that even if they don’t cancel his current visa he can’t use it anyway and needs a new one. AFAIK that’s not possible to obtain in place, so he needs to get back home and apply for another visa – I guess they will be in a hurry to grant it after all of this.

    • The full story is already out there. He received an exemption (after being advised by TA and Craig Tiley that this would be fine) by getting a doctor to write a letter saying he had Covid in the last six months. He was unable to produce lab results according to reports — but even if he did, having Covid 6 months prior is not a proper exemption for vaccination anyway (you and I can’t get into Australia with that.) Unless he has some additional supporting documents on Monday it doesn’t look great. Clearly Tennis Australia’s authority does not and cannot supersede the Border Patrol, an instrument of the government — I doubt that will even be argued.

        • I would not be surprised if he got it again recently. This happened to others as well (Benoit Paire complained about this). However, I don’t see what relevance it has whether he can actually prove that he had Covid-19 recently or whether he actually has other reasons to get a vaccine exemption.

          He tried to enter Australia using a dubious proof that he had Covid-19 in the last 6 months when he actually needed a vaccination proof (and nothing else) to enter using his visa.

          If I get this right, he is now trying to get a totally different type of exemption and a different type of visa while at the border – I doubt that it can happen.

          • He could enter using covid proof if 6 month window was told by TA but the issue here is supposedly he has no lab results to prove it and certification of just 1 doc

          • This isn’t accepted by the federal government. He can argue that he was brought here under false circumstances by assurances by TA. But he didn’t have the documentation to support the exemption anyway.
            The point many don’t understand is that he has to bring the paperwork to support the exemption on arrival. If he doesn’t then his visa is invalidated. And he didn’t have the paperwork.
            I don’t see how he gets around this…

  6. I really doubt the judge will go against its own border force because it will then make the ABF look real bad in front of the world and as long as the ABF can substantiate against djoko lack of evidence, he cannot win this. However I think no 3 year ban will be imposed on him.

    But just imagine if judge let’s Novak compete, his fans will go berserk 🙂

    • And imagine if as a result, all the tennis players call foul and decide to boycott AO?! Bcoz they feel they followed protocol and got vaccinated and Novak circumvents and gets to play!! Who then will he play against?!

      This whole thing started with allowing ppl to over each their feeling of entitlement!!! Y was Novak allowed the exemption in the first place?! Y didn’t Novak and his team think this through given his stance and the political charge that surrounds this whole Covid-19 pandemic?! If Novak is allowed to compete there will be tremendous pressure on him to win this thing and I think it will be his own undoing! As much as ppl feel he performs well under pressure I’m afraid this time it will be way too much for him! I am not even sure if I’m looking forward to this AO now! It’s whole thing is such a bummer!!

  7. In Novak’s quest to be great he has single handedly managed to taint his own legacy!

    Roger and the other tennis players are not commenting. Y should they? Novak got himself in this entire pickle!! He made a choice to not get vaccinated so then accept the consequences!! U can’t have ure cake and eat it! However, I am not quite sure I agree with the 3 yr ban, if he is vaccinated then he should be allowed to play if that’s the rule!

  8. It looks now that it’s not entirely “Novax”’ fault; apparently there is disagreement between Australian local authorities and federal authorities regarding exemptions. He was probably assured by tournament officials that he wouldn’t have any problems at the border. I hope that the Australian culprits will be prosecuted as well.

    That being said, Djoker has a whole team behind him and they should have made sure that everything is okay. It almost looks like he waited to see if players with similar exemptions can get in – and at least one did. In any case, this circus is on him, he could just have left and get retribution from home.

    Like I said before, I’m pretty sure that if he hadn’t create this fuss he might have been able to get in – the border police would not have risked to create problems without being certain that the government has their back. Now, I can’t say that this wouldn’t have blown anyway since Australians most likely would have investigated how he managed to get in.

    For now, all Novax managed to do is to get Voracova deported as well. It really looks like the federal government is not going to lose Monday’s trial.

    • I think based on today’s legal filing ..check Ben rothenbergs tweets for details ..I think he will be given benefit of doubt and allowed to play

      But that will really mean an egg on the PM and border security force and will the court want that ?

  9. https://mobile.twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1479730371679850500

    It says he got Covid on dec 16. The past date for exemption was dec 10. If he got Covid on dec 16, he was still in all functions on Dec 16 n 17 moreso with kids ..

    Something is just not adding up here

    Read Ben’s tweets and he hasuploaded the whole legal filing too document.

    The third part of Djokovic claiming he received mail from home affairs that he is eligible for quarantine free travel is not understandable to me

  10. It is staggering to believe that Tiley, a tournament director, could overrule Prime Minister Morrison. According to cnn.com, “Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters Thursday that Tennis Australia was advised in a letter as far back as November 2021 that unvaccinated players with a recent Covid-19 infection would not be allowed to enter the country.”

    “ND’s first COVID-positive PCR test was recorded on December 16, 2021, and after not showing signs of a fever or “respiratory symptoms” he applied for a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open, according to the [appeal] document.

    Perfect timing for him to become infected, again? Do ya think?

  11. If he got Covid in Decemberthen why didn’t he tell everyone like Rafa, Raducanu, Jabeur, Bencic, Shaps and everyone else who got it in Abu Dhabi did?
    They all went and isolated while Novax was charging around maskless at public events shaking everyone by the hand, including children. What kind of behaviour is that!?
    And the cut off date was December 10 so how could he be relying on a positive test after the cut off date?
    His behaviour is absurd. It’s impossible to know what is true with him and what isn’t.
    But if you make the simple comparison with the other players catching it in December then he might as well be on another planet…
    As for the legal ins and outs who knows? We are not lawyers and he will have hired the best. It’s entirely possible the court will rule for him. That’s what judicial review is there for and they often overrule the government.

        • Sanju, the judges are independent, they will find due to legal precedent. Judicial review is based on the British model. The entire point is that it is impartial. Judicial review regularly finds against the government and it doesn’t matter if Novax is, or is not, a citizen. The entire point is impartiality before the law. The question is entirely bound by legal precedent.

  12. This whole thing has been a clusterfu*k on everyone’s parts. I do not for ONE SECOND believe that Djokovic tested positive for covid this past December. I do believe that Tiley did everything he could to get Djoker to Australia. What tournament director in his right mind would pass up the scenario where Djoker gets his 10th AO and his 23st slam at his tournament? It’s what wet dreams are made of! I’d sure NoVax believed he’d be rubber-stamped once he got to Oz. He has no idea how the Oz people feel about him and about vaccination. I feel for the judge though. No idea what she’s going to rule. Hopefully she’ll follow the law, whatever it is. But in the immortal words of Dickens “the law is a ass”.

  13. Djokovic did not get Covid-19 in December. It’s just a convenient excuse he basically forged to get an exemption. Ramara you are absolutely correct.

    Amy and sanju, regardless of legal precedent and the courts being impartial and often overruling the government, the main point is this: the border force and the prime minister made it abundantly clear that getting Covid-19 before, does not give people medical exemptionto enter Australia. In other words, whether you got Covid before or not, you cannot enter Australia with that excuse or reason unvaccinated, period. They made it crystal clear to Djokovic at the airport hence why they cancelled his visa and ignored his medical exemption.

    The court and judge will likely abide by that and rule against Djokovic and deport him back to his country. Tennis Australia accepts medical exemption based on getting Covid in the past, ABF does not and has said so emphatically and also has the prime minister and the minister of health. The court is not going to overrule that in favour of Djokovic bc the ABF is a branch of government that will always supersede any tennis organization. Tennis Australia cannot come up with rules on who enters Australia unvaccinated based on whatever reason, that’s the government and border force’s job. Again, the court is not going to overrule that hence why voropova was deported. She can’t be deported and Djoko gets away. That’s not happening, not in Australia IMHO.

    • I am just trying to warn people that it could happen.
      The law is not simple and straightforward about these things.
      It’s better to be prepared for it happening no?

    • If you read the submission he received a mail from ministry of Home affairs that he is fine for quarantine free travel .isn’t that body of the govmt ?

      Secondly say it’s proven its not his fault and it was TA who goofed up here and did not pass on correct infy , will he not be given benefit of doubt and allowed in ?

      Thirdly Queens counsel is debating his case and supposedly they are the best

      Lastly he is diehard crazy nole fan so not sure what to make of this tweet

    • Well said Happy. The case as Djokovic’s lawyers are arguing it (essentially saying that Australia has no authority to require vaccination upon entry once it has issued a visa) would have widespread implications for Australia’s entry process and it would be extremely surprising if a judge were to allow the vaccination requirement to become less secure in this moment of high infections. It’s not impossible of course, judges do make radical decisions, but it would still be shocking and extremely controversial. The timeline thing adds to the bizarreness of the whole incident but doesn’t seem relevant to the case that the court will hear which is largely about who has the authority to cancel a visa.

  14. If he didn’t have any symptoms why did he have the test?
    It’s all incredibly fishy..
    How could he rely on the results of a test when he didn’t even have any symptoms to get an exemption? That makes no sense.

    • No, no, I’m still kind of enjoying the Drammer. None of the actors are looking good right now. I read a quote from one of Djokovic’ books. Apparently holding a slice of white bread against his stomach caused a total loss of strength in his right arm! To me that’s a sign of the strength of his belief system but not a sign of allergy to gluten! That man is so screwed up mentally it boggles my mind.

      • He’s in danger of bringing the game into disrepute with these ridiculous stories! This one makes zero sense in terms of logic and chronology unless it’s either a fabrication or he got it deliberately.

  15. One thing is for sure: if I were a member of the border force hearing about this incredible chronology of events I wouldn’t believe it.

    • *points at Craig Tiley*

      But there’s plenty of blame to go around. I am beginning to understand why Novax’ documentation was so skimpy. His story has more holes than Swiss cheese.

  16. I just looked at the DysfunctionalTBlog. Somewhat remarkably, given it is full of Nole Farm, Sean has written a long post saying straight up what we have been saying, th at the chronology of events makes zero sense and Novax faked the covid test.
    It’s hilarious seeing Nole Farm simply try to pretend none of this has been written and absolutely refuse to even look at the possibility this is true.

  17. There’s a good chance they will cancel he Visa again tomorrow. They just want to get all the facts together regarding how he gamed the system, so they can use it to support their decision. They don’t want to be perceived to be undermining the court and vindictive.

    • Agree.
      The judge sort of indicated that would happen because he said wanted to be notified before any further papers are filed after his judgment.

  18. I don’t think they will cancel it now. It will look bad on them.

    Ofcourse the parity issue exists that they deported 2 others with similar exemptions

  19. Are you sure Sanju? there’s lots of attention right now on how Djokovic received a positive test result in 16/12 and was out and about on 17-18/12.

    I think they are getting their facts together.

    • But anonymous that has nothing to do with his court decision and cancellation of visa ? How will the Australian govmt verify what he did in Serbia? How can they prove his covid certificate was fake if it was in first place ?

  20. “I don’t think they will cancel it now. It will look bad on them.”

    It will only look bad if it’s seen to be undermining the court decision and vindictive.

    If they have solid grounds for stepping in, it wont look bad at all. It will look like they stopped him gaming the system.

    • Exactly anonymous. If they have solid grounds to cancel his visa again, they will do it regardless of how people feel about it. He had Covid and knew he had it and was seen walking maskless with children the next day and other days after that. People are undermining that saying that just means he’s a jerk and it has no relevance to the case. It does. Either that Covid test is fake or he recklessly endangered the lives of people and children with him carrying Covid around. People could have died (as Covid has killed a lot of people) and who knows what happened to them.

      Let’s be honest here, there are loopholes to Djokovic testimony and if they found out he gamed the system, they will cancel his visa again immediately regardless of people’s opinion. I don’t think this is over.

  21. Unbelievable what’s been happening regarding this Djokovic story.

    I am confused but I think may be he should play but not sure how he would fare given all this disruption to his preparation and the non-stop distraction. Mentally on the court it would be tougher than anything he’s experienced before as the public is not going to be happy if he plays and it’s been easy to make him a villain in the past (often due to his own mistakes!).

    Australian authorities have certainly messed up and Djokovic’s treatment at the airport wasn’t appropriate either. He actually had done what was asked of him.

    The whole mystery around him attending that event on Dec 17th with a Covid positive on 16th is messed up though and I don’t know what to make of it.

    • What to make of Djoker out there being a super spreader? Why wouldn’t he? What evidence is there that he ever gives one thought to anyone else? The PTPA? Don’t make me laugh! Nothing but a publicity stunt to try to paint him as the leader he aspires to be. What has it EVER actually attempted to DO for the players? He’s all about his own precious divine body. Sorry for the rant but I am fed to the teeth with his antics.

  22. Djokovic has posted he will compete at the AO and posted a pic from RLA itself tonight. have to hand it to him.

    I seriously don’t think the Australia govmt will now do anything..djokovic will be playing with an intent and purpose now..n are the draws open for all to see? Else the slimy tiley will surely try to cook some favors for all the agony caused to him

  23. That’s a very restrained description of the loathsome fascist.
    A man who has had more airtime at the BBC than almost anyone and whose fascist comment s eg ‘ the real problem in America is the Jews ‘ are never reported by them.
    Good for Andy.
    Same as with Farage’s applauding Raducanu when she won when he has spent years saying he wouldn’t live next door to anyone Romanian..
    Ps that was me above.

        • Still too polite!
          God I hate Farage..
          PS long live king Andy!😀
          How far do you see him going at the AO Margot? I don’t know what to make of Andy’s comments that he is on the verge of a big breakthrough. I believe him but then he goes and loses to jouneymen…😕😕

  24. So how many here giving Novak the slam 21 at ao? I think he is the favorite especially if zverev is on other side with med ( which i think he will be)

    • I dont think he’s favorite. If he plays well, I give him about the same chance as Medvedev and Zverev.

      Those two just need to believe in themselves and maker it physical.

  25. The only logical and fair outcome is to cancel his visa like they did for Voracova. Novax only “won” this because of the incompetence of the border police and probably thanks to some internal political games.

    Normally this should be far from over; nothing seems simpler than to demonstrate that Novax either produced fake medical documents (most likely) or he’s a guy who’s knowingly infecting people (including children!) with Covid-19. Still, the situation seemed crystal clear even before: he doesn’t have the right to enter Australia under the circumstances (no vaccine, no valid Covid-19 exemption).

    Right now Novax is risking his GS tally, because if his visa is cancelled again he will miss this and the next 3 AOs. He could have left on his own after winning this. Okay he somehow got a visa he wasn’t entitled to (how he got it is another story which may or may not be disclosed to the public). Even if it wasn’t his fault, it’s like the bank accidentally puts $10M in your bank account – you still need to give them back. I doubt that they would have chased him if he left.

    What the public understands from this: if you’re rich and you can afford the right lawyers, you can do pretty much what you want.

    Hopefully the Australian government is just making sure that they cancel his visa again, this time by the book and without leaving any loopholes. I’m not holding my breath though, it looks like they are a bunch of gutless incompetents.

  26. Anyone else seen the footage of Novax’s brother smirking and shutting the conference down when asked why Novax was out maskless and surrounded by people on the 17th?
    He self isolated when he got covid before! This whole story is still extraordinarily fishy. The central point for me is what was he relying on to get into the tourney if he genuinely didn’t know he was going to catch covid at this singularly late date after he had applied for the visa?! It’s all so implausible…

    • Like his father, his brother seems immensely dislikable. I seem to recall he headed the genius move to have Novax work with Pepe. It’s a good time to bring Pepe back..!😀
      Also, talking of smirking, I really can’t stand a moment more of Grinning Goran and his idiotic comments…

    • Yes seen and ben Rothenberg has tweeted abt it . Djorde clearly stopped as he did not want to get stuck. However the way he adjourned seems to have created issue now and made it a talking point .

      Plus side is they know it will be asked and will spin a story around it and iron out all loose ends

  27. Gonna repeat my question further up the thread.
    Can anyone ( Margot, Sanju) see Alcaraz taking out a top seed in the third round? Or still too early for him?

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