Home
The documents published on Saturday (January 8) by Australia's Federal Circuit Court show. Novak Djokovic was granted a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open as he had recently recovered from Covid-19.
The development comes as the tennis World no.1 is confined to a detention facility in Melbourne as he mounts a desperate legal challenge against the cancellation of his visa ahead of the Australian Open.
The documents, which have been submitted to the court ahead of Djokovic's hearing Monday, confirmed the 34-year-old, who previously voiced opposition to Covid-19 vaccines and vaccines mandates was unvaccinated when he arrived in Australia on January 5.
Djokovic's first Covid-positive PCR test was recorded on December 16, 2021. He later applied for a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open, according to the court filing.
Djokovic's visa was then cancelled on January 6 at 4:11 am local time, under Section 116(1)(e) of the Migration Act, which "allows for the cancellation of a visa where the holder poses a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community, or to an individual within the Australian community."
Djokovic's legal team is against the Australian Border Forces' decision to revoke his visa. The country's Federal Court has adjourned the decision until Monday on whether he will be allowed to remain in Australia or be deported.
In his native Serbia, meanwhile, the Djokovic family staged a protest in front of the country's National Assembly in Belgrade earlier this week. Djokovic's father, Srdan, said authorities were holding his son as a "captive" -- a claim Australia's home affairs minister Karen Andrews denied.
"He is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so, and Border Force will actually facilitate that," Andrews on Friday.
"It is the individual traveller's responsibility to make sure that they have in place all the necessary documentation that is needed to enter Australia," he added.
