The Novak Djokovic case has been making the headlines for days. After a court in Australia had canceled the tennis star’s visa at the beginning of the week, his participation in the Australian Open is by no means certain. Because Australia is apparently actually considering pulling the emergency brake.
As “Fox Sports” reports, citing the Australian daily “Herald Sun”, the authorities are preparing to expel Novak Djokovic from the country.
The newspaper quotes an unspecified source in the government who fears a “dangerous precedent” should the world number one be allowed to stay in the country despite the numerous disagreements surrounding his corona status. The government is preparing to accept any international backlash in order to protect national interests.
This was preceded by the announcement by Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke that he would continue to consider revoking Djokovic’s visa. The decision is expected on Thursday after the Djokovic lawyers had submitted further documents that are relevant to the matter and “affect the timeframe,” the ministry’s office said.
Djokovic admits mistakes – disagreements remain
For his part, 34-year-old Djokovic had previously spoken out in a statement that he wanted to use to get rid of “misinformation” which he described as “hurtful and worrying for my family”.
However, the Serb, who was not vaccinated against the coronavirus, also admitted to having attended an interview with the French sports newspaper “L’Équipe” on December 18, despite a positive PCR test result. “Although I went home after the interview and went into isolation for the prescribed length of time, after thinking more carefully, that was a misjudgment and I understand that I should have postponed this commitment,” he wrote.
According to his own information, the day before, when he appeared without mask protection at an event with children, he did not know anything about a possible corona infection. His antigen test was negative and he had had a PCR test done just out of sheer caution.
As the “Der Spiegel” writes, however, the PCR test ultimately submitted by Djokovic’s lawyers in a Serbian database was dated to a later date and was therefore not from December 16. Last but not least, when he entered Australia, he did not mention a stay in Marbella, Spain – a mistake by his management, as Djokovic stated.
Such disagreements could now move the Australian government to initiate the expulsion of the tennis star.
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