Novak Djokovic visa to enter Australia cancelled, PM says tennis participant couldn’t show medical exemption

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s visa to enter Australia was canceled on Thursday and his bid to defend his Australian Open crown in Melbourne seems unsure. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison maintained that the star tennis participant was not ‘singled out’ and that th Serb couldn’t show his case for buying a Covid-19 vaccine exemption to play within the season’s first Grand Slam.

Djokovic introduced on social media Tuesday that he had “exemption permission” and landed in Australia late Wednesday after receiving a medical exemption from the Victoria state authorities that may defend him from the strict vaccination laws in place for this 12 months’s first main tennis event.The medical exemptions, vetted by two impartial panels of consultants and primarily based on data equipped anonymously by gamers and brought on face worth, had been designed to permit Djokovic to play within the Australian Open, no matter his vaccination standing for Covid-19.But border authorities didn’t settle for the exemption. The Australian Border Force issued an announcement saying Djokovic failed to satisfy entry necessities.”The rule is very clear,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison mentioned.”You need to have a medical exemption. He didn’t have a valid medical exemption. We make the call at the border, and that’s where it’s enforced.”The Victoria authorities has mandated that solely absolutely vaccinated gamers, employees members, followers and officers can enter Melbourne Park when the event begins January 17.Only 26 individuals linked with the event utilized for a medical exemption and, Tiley mentioned, solely a “handful” had been granted. None of these gamers have been publicly recognized.Among the suitable causes for an exemption are acute main medical circumstances, severe adversarial response to a earlier dose of COVID-19 vaccine or proof of a Covid-19 an infection throughout the earlier six months.’WILL HAVE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY’Health Minister Greg Hunt mentioned the visa cancellation adopted a evaluation of Djokovic’s medical exemption by border officers who seemed “at the integrity and the evidence behind it.”He mentioned Djokovic was free to enchantment the choice, “but if a visa is canceled, somebody will have to leave the country.”Djokovic has spoken out in opposition to vaccines prior to now and has steadfastly refused to acknowledge whether or not he acquired any pictures in opposition to the coronavirus.DJOKOVIC NOT SINGLED OUT: PM MORRISONResponding later to questions on confusion over the differing state and federal necessities, Morrison mentioned it was as much as particular person vacationers to have appropriate documentation on arrival.The prime minister rejected the suggestion that Djokovic was being singled out, however he acknowledged that different gamers could also be in Australia on the identical kind of medical exemption.“One of the things the Border Force does is they act on intelligence to direct their attention to potential arrivals,” he mentioned. “When you get people making public statements about what they say they have, and they’re going to do, they draw significant attention to themselves.”Anyone who does that “whether they’re a celebrity, a politician, a tennis player . . . they can expect to be asked questions more than others before you come.” (With AP inputs)