admin
MELBOURNE. — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open for Novak Djokovic to compete at next year’s Australian Open tennis tournament despite the Serb facing an automatic three-year ban from entering the country.
The world No. 1 tennis player left Australia late on Sunday — arriving back to Serbia yesterday a little after 11.30am GMT — after the Federal Court upheld a government decision to cancel his visa, capping days of drama over the country’s Covid-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status.
Under immigration law, Djokovic cannot be granted another visa for three years unless Australia’s immigration minister accepts there are compelling or compassionate reasons.
“I’m not going to precondition any of that or say anything that would not enable the minister to make the various calls he has to make,” Morrison told 2GB radio yesterday as Djokovic was en route to Dubai.
“It does go over a three-year period, but there is the opportunity for (a person) to return in the right circumstances, and that will be considered at the time.”
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge Federal Court bench dealt a final blow to Djokovic’s hopes of chasing a record 21st Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, which started yesterday, dismaying his family and supporters.
“If you’re someone coming from overseas, and there are conditions for you to enter this country, then you have to comply with them,” Morrison added.
“This is about someone who sought to come to Australia and not comply with the entry rules at our border.”
Meanwhile, French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said on Sunday that sportspeople will need to be vaccinated to compete in the country, putting a question mark over Djokovic’s participation in this year’s French Open too.
This represents a U-turn by Maracineanu who earlier in the week had defended the idea of bubbles for unvaccinated athletes, with the French parliament passing stricter restrictions regarding Covid-19.
In a rollercoaster saga, the world’s top men’s player Djokovic was first detained by immigration authorities on January 6, ordered to be released by a court on January 10 and then detained again on Saturday pending Sunday’s court hearing.
Djokovic (34) said he was extremely disappointed by the ruling but he respected the court’s decision.
“I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and the tournament I love,” Djokovic said in a statement before flying out of Melbourne.
The player was filmed by Reuters wearing a mask and taking selfies with fans at the arrival gate in Dubai as he waited for his entourage to follow him off the plane. — Sky Sports.
Online Reporter