We like the Australians, would have no tolerance for this. No tolerance, even more so than for our own irresponsible citizens, would be that for a foreign national coming into our country playing fast and loose with policies, the risky behavior in disregard for others which he has clearly demonstrated repeatedly, violations of Covid protocols in place to ensure the health and safety and the very lives of our citizens, nor we would have any tolerance for other foreign nationals rioting in our country on his behalf. We would have sent him home and sent them with him. What they do in their home country is one thing, and we can only hope they are held accountable, but what they do in someone else’s is another matter.
Game, set, match: Djokovic leaves Australia after court ruling to deport him
Yuliya Talmazan – 4h ago
Hours after a court decision to deport him, Novak Djokovic left Australia Sunday, ending a drawn-out saga that shook the tennis world. The world’s top-ranked male tennis player left on the eve of the Australian Open, which starts Monday.
Djokovic, 34, had no choice but to leave the country, after three Australian federal judges dismissed his challenge to a deportation order on Sunday and upheld a decision made Friday by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to cancel the Serb’s visa on public interest grounds.
Hawke later confirmed on social media that Djokovich had “departed Australia.”
As one of many Infuriating examples of pandemic privilege run amok: Novak Djokovic Puts Partying Above Precautions
Tennis star Novak Djokovic has been living it up over the last two years, despite a pandemic. In June 2020, he and other tennis pros were called out for partying hard at a Serbian nightclub, which led to a number of positive Covid cases and game cancellations.
Previously Djokovic took part in a live Facebook chat with fellow Serbian athletes on 19 April 2020. It was during this 69-minute discussion when he opened up and said “Personally I am opposed to vaccination”
A month later Djokovic laid bare another unorthodox view when claiming polluted water could be purified through positive emotions while speaking to “wellness guru” Chervin Jafarieh on an Instagram Live.
And then in June he organized the controversial Adria Tour, an event which lacked social distancing, featured full crowds, and ultimately ended early when Covid-19 spread among the players and some of their close contacts.
By October 2021, more than 60 per cent of ATP and WTA players had taken up the vaccine, and in this same month the Australian government stated that anyone wishing to participate in the upcoming Australian Open would need to be fully vaccinated, in line with the country’s visa requirements.
Djokovic’s questionable decisions didn’t end there — he recently landed in Australia to play the 2022 Australian Open, but was denied entry because he is against being vaccinated. Despite Djokovic trying to seek a medical exemption, the country put him in immigration detention.
“You’ll need to be double vaccinated to visit Australia. That’s a universal application, not just to tennis players. I mean that every visitor to Australia will need to be double vaccinated,” minister Alex Hawke said.
“I don’t have a message to Novak. I have a message to everybody that wishes to visit Australia. He’ll need to be double vaccinated.”
The spotlight was on Djokovic as the world No 1 and the problem with Australia first started when he wouldn’t reveal his vaccination status.
Prior to his arrival, however, he told the world that he received a medical exemption (that was orchestrated by a tournament official on his side, not by the authorities).
More controversy arose when the world found out he had tested positive for COVID in mid December and went to public events around the same time. In a new statement, Djokovic set the record straight about when he actually found out he was positive for COVID, but by doing so, he also admitted that he’d gone to an interview after learning that he was COVID positive – and he admitted to being unmasked during the accompanying photo shoot.
He did an interview and photo shoot with French sports paper L’Équipe that he said was a "long-standing commitment." Djokovic wrote, "I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the interview as I didn’t want to let the journalist down, this was an error of judgement and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment."
Djokovic’s statement also addressed an administrative error that his team made when filling out his visa application. Essentially, they indicated that Djokovic had not traveled internationally in the 14 days ahead of his arrival to Australia when he in fact did as the New York Times reported.
Laughably Djokovic’s father called the Australian Open’s vaccination mandate “blackmail”, although the door was opened somewhat when tournament director Craig Tiley suggested on 9 December that a medical exemption was possible.
Fast forward a month and Djokovic took advantage (literally as it turns out) and tentatively had been granted an exemption but then was denied entry to Australia after his visa was cancelled.
While his Australian Open appearance had been still up in the air, Rafael Nadal suggested this saga could have been avoided if his old rival had been vaccinated. “If you do this, you don’t have any problem to play here. That’s the only clear thing,” Nadal said. “I think if [Djokovic] wanted, he would be playing here in Australia without a problem. Everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences.
“Of course I don’t like the situation that is happening. In some way I feel sorry for him. But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision.”
Chaos then ensues in what could have been a international incident:
On Jan 10th a crowd of Novak Djokovic supporters were pepper-sprayed by police in Melbourne, Australia on Monday night as they gathered around a car they believed was transporting the tennis star.
Video footage showed Djokovic’s supporters chanting "Free Nole"—a nickname used by fans—as they marched in the central business district, where his lawyer’s office is reportedly located. The fans, a number of whom were seen sporting Serbian flags, were seen surrounding a black Mercedes with blacked-out windows, the fans were shown slowing the vehicle’s progress as they surrounded it, fans were banging on the window, throwing bottles at the car and two people were jumping up and down on top of it, and news showed police officers attempting to keep the crowd at bay, before pepper spray was used to disperse the supporters.
Djokovic may have some fellow Serbs and a handful of others there protesting for him, but by far there aren’t too many on his side.
“This guys gotta be just the biggest fool on the planet,” one fan said.
“Good grief, just send him out to sea,” another fan said.
“Good, actions have consequences (at least in Australia) covid + and went to presser anyway, falsified info (blamed agent) If this was some nobody they would have been deported already,” a third fan said.
“Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled. 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,” said another
We’ve read hundreds of comments overall and most Australians have been outraged and have disdain for him with a common them emerging that he thinks he’s privaledged and someone special, and they reject that.
Then there was this hot mic moment: They said what many Australians were thinking, and in a very Australian way: salty, outspoken and definitely not suitable for family television. Two television anchors sharply criticized Djokovic in a foul-mouthed conversation, apparently recorded as they prepared for a nightly news bulletin on Tuesday. In the video, Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern questioned supposed mistakes on Djokovic’s visa application and made personal attacks. Maddern questioned the truthfulness of some of Djokovic’s statements, describing him as “sneaky,” among other things while Amor agreed.
Meanwhile others in the tennis world have spoke out such as Tsitsipas who said “Djokovic is playing by his own rules”, Martina Navratilova who said “he should just walk away and go home”, and Hungarian star Marton Fucsovics who said “he doesn’t think the Djokovic should be playing at the Australian Open” and“I don’t think he has the right to be here.”
Radio host Howard Stern went so far as to go on a tirade against him, called him some nasty names and declared that Novak Djokovic does "not care about anyone else" and should be thrown out of tennis altogether. He added "Where is the statement, let me see. ‘Getting vaccinated is a private decision, you shouldn’t be mandated, you should be restricted from travel.’
"That is right, stay away from other people, that is like saying smoking is a private decision, well that is true, but don’t smoke in my face, f**knut, what a dummy.
He’s lucky he was just detained and then deported instead of put in jail.
· Giving false information to the Australian government holds a maximum penalty of a year in prison.
The Serbian admitted on Wednesday that he submitted inaccurate information on the form, within which there is a declaration which warns people that providing false information carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison, which he says was filled in by his agent on his behalf before entering Australia. Djokovic had attested on the form that he had not travelled or would not travel in the 14 days prior to his flight to Australia on January 4. An investigation determined, as confirmed by social media posts, that he did in fact travel not once but twice placing him in Belgrade on December 25 and then in southern Spain on December 31.
Djokovic could also face jail back in his native Serbia
On top of admitting he had provided false information on his travel declaration form, he acknowledged that he had attended a media event in Belgrade on December 18 two days after having tested positive for COVID-19
Serbia’s Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, commented on the 34-year-old’s actions last month, "There are some standards that have to be met, in this case it seems to me that if he was aware of [the positive COVID test] then it is a clear violation of the rules," she said. Asked about potential sanctions for the tennis star, she said: "I will have to see with the relevant authorities and the medical people who are in charge of implementing these regulations." According to Article 248 of the Criminal Code of Republic of Serbia, "failure to comply with health measures during an epidemic of dangerous contagious disease designed to suppress or prevent the disease" carries a maximum punishment of three years in prison.
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