
On January 16, 2022, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic was deported from the airport while he was on his way to participate in the Australian Open. Notably, the Australian government cancelled Djokovic’s visa on ‘health and good order’ grounds as he didn’t take a COVID vaccine. Djokovic also expressed his disappointment on the matter but accepted the rejection and left on a flight to Dubai.
Notably, Novak Djokovic didn’t agree to take the COVID-19 vaccine when the disease was at its peak in 2020 and 2021. However, things were coming back to normal all over the world at the start of 2022, but the people were advised to take vaccines and follow all the safety precautions to avoid any repercussions. Recently, Djokovic also revealed that he didn’t feel the need to take vaccines as he had to do regular tests, blood tests, any kind of tests as a professional athlete.
Novak Djokovic’s fans did silent protest outside courtroom after his visa got rejected
Novak Djokovic’s visa got rejected due to which he couldn’t take part in the 2022 Australian Open. As soon as the decision was announced, Djokovic’s supporters did a silent protest outside the courtroom on the eve of his opening match of the tournament. However, then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said that the decision was made to keep their borders safe and alleged that Djokovic was deported for breaching the entry rules at the border.
Australian immigration minister, Alex Hawke on the other hand said that Novak Djokovic “entered Australia consistently” with Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) documents. However, the minister also said that there was a dispute regarding this in the earlier court proceedings. “For present purposes, I will assume that Mr Djokovic’s position is correct rather than seeking to get to the bottom of this here,” Hawke wrote.